Newsroom
Mental health patients are being forced to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor at Athalassa Psychiatric Hospital, according to a serious warning issued Thursday by the mental health nursing branch of the PASYDY.
In a strongly worded statement, the union described conditions at the state psychiatric hospital as “critical” and “dangerous,” saying overcrowding has spiraled beyond control and is now putting both patients and staff at risk.
The nurses’ union said wards originally designed to accommodate up to 20 patients are now holding around 30 people. Despite efforts to increase bed capacity, officials said the situation has only worsened.
Modern facilities alone, they argued, cannot safely handle such a sharp increase in psychiatric patients.
The union said it had repeatedly warned authorities that exceeding the hospital’s intended capacity would inevitably create unsafe and unmanageable conditions. Those warnings, it said, were ignored.
“The concentration of a large number of patients in confined spaces dramatically increases the risks,” the statement said, warning that patient safety, quality of care, and even “human dignity” are now under direct threat.
The claims paint a troubling picture inside Cyprus’ main psychiatric hospital, where pressure on mental health services has been growing in recent years amid rising demand and limited infrastructure.
The union also accused the state health services organization, OKYPY, of failing to take meaningful action over the past two months despite repeated appeals.
According to the nurses, no concrete action plan has been presented and no emergency meeting has been called to address the crisis.
They also dismissed plans for a new 14-person facility as insufficient, arguing it would merely shift the overcrowding problem elsewhere rather than solve it.
“Athalassa Hospital cannot continue operating under these conditions,” the union said, adding that the situation has “exceeded every limit.”
The nurses are now calling for immediate intervention, including the urgent creation of new suitable facilities and an emergency meeting with authorities to present a binding plan aimed at easing overcrowding at the hospital.
