Newsroom
A midnight inspection of the General Hospitals of Nicosia and Limassol has exposed shocking gaps in patient care, from long ICU waits to a brand-new €1.5 million CT scanner that hasn’t even been used.
The surprise audit by the Audit Service, carried out between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on the eve of a holiday, found patients in Nicosia’s ICU waiting an average of five hours, with one case stretching past 11 hours. Limassol’s ICU wasn’t much better, with nearly three-hour waits.
Delays aren’t just in the ICU. Emergency patients sometimes had to wait for specialists who were slow to respond or weren’t even considered necessary on-site. One patient in Limassol needing neurosurgery advice had to wait for a faxed consultation from Nicosia, a delay that could have serious consequences.
Radiology, too, is a mess. A CT scanner delivered to Nicosia General Hospital in June 2025 for €1.5 million remains unused, while other machines repeatedly fail. On-call radiologists refused to provide opinions, forcing patients to be sent to private hospitals, and even then, diagnoses were done remotely from a company in Greece. X-ray results often came days after patients were discharged, raising real concerns about care quality.
The audit also found that procedures meant to protect patients are being ignored. Some patients were admitted by doctors not on duty, with forms signed without proper documentation. This could lead to mistakes in treatment and legal trouble for both hospitals and doctors.
The Audit Service is calling for immediate action: put the new CT scanner to use, ensure radiologists provide timely opinions, secure 24-hour agreements with private centers, and make sure all test results are ready before patients leave the hospital. They also warned that staff delays, miscommunication, and outdated procedures are keeping patients waiting far too long, sometimes in critical conditions.
In short, the audit paints a picture of mismanagement, wasted resources, and patients left in limbo, and it raises urgent questions about how much risk is being tolerated in Cyprus’ biggest hospitals.
