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In most cases last year, patients rushing into the First Aid Department at Larnaca General Hospital were treated not by senior doctors, but by trainees, while the specialists on duty were often nowhere to be found, according to a new report by the Audit Office of the Republic.
Despite their absence, the specialists reportedly received full on-call pay, ranging from €450 to €850 per shift, the report revealed.
The findings were part of a special audit published on October 7, which examined the hospital’s operations in 2023. The goal, according to the Audit Office, was to check whether proper procedures and regulations were being followed.
Specialists Paid, But Missing from Duty
“In most cases, there is no evidence that the specialists on call, who were on duty, reported to the Accident and Emergency Department, even when the admission of patients was required,” Auditor General Andreas Papakonstantinou wrote in the report.
Despite their absence, the specialists reportedly received full on-call pay, ranging from €450 to €850 per shift, the report revealed.
“It appears that the examination and care of patients was undertaken by resident doctors. Nevertheless, the specialists on call received their full allowances.”
The report describes this as a “long-established practice,” one that continues despite previous warnings.
Union Resistance Stalls Accountability
According to the Audit Office, a decision by the State Health Services Organisation (OKYPY) to stop paying on-call allowances to doctors who arrive late or fail to show up has never been enforced, mainly due to opposition from doctors’ unions.
This resistance, the Auditor General noted, has left management unable to ensure that taxpayers’ money is used properly or that patients receive care from qualified specialists when needed.
Lapses in Record-Keeping and Lost Income
The audit also found major gaps in documentation and record-keeping. Many medical forms were missing signatures, timestamps, and clinical notes. In total, 5,116 claims for outpatient care were never submitted to the Health Insurance Organization (HIO), resulting in an estimated loss of €67,681 in revenue for 2023.
One doctor, the report said, failed to record over half of their patient visits (51.22%) without facing any disciplinary action.
While the amount lost may seem small in absolute terms, the Audit Office warned that it points to a deeper problem of oversight and data accuracy, both of which are essential for patient safety.
“No Filing System” and Risk to Patient Data
Perhaps most worrying, the audit found that emergency department records are being stored “in completely unsuitable locations, without any filing system.”
“This practice poses serious risks of loss of valuable medical data and breaches of personal data security,” the report said.
Longstanding Problems, Little Progress
Papakonstantinou noted that many of the issues uncovered were “long-standing” and had been raised before, yet no substantial changes have been made.
“The findings were largely expected,” the report stated. “More drastic measures are required.”
A Matter of Trust and Safety
While the audit does not accuse individual doctors of malpractice, it paints a troubling picture of systemic neglect, weak accountability, and potential risks to patients.
In a healthcare system already under pressure, the revelation that trainee doctors were left to handle emergencies unsupervised while specialists collected full pay is certain to spark fresh debate over public hospital management and union influence in Cyprus’s health sector.
