Nursing staff at Larnaca General Hospital staged a spontaneous one-hour work stoppage on Wednesday morning, citing chronic staffing pressures, overcrowding and growing concerns over patient care.
According to the PASYDY General Nursing Personnel Branch, nurses walked off the job between 8am and 9am in protest at longstanding problems affecting the hospital.
Overcrowding at centre of dispute
The union said recent periods of high occupancy have resulted in patients remaining for hours in the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) while waiting for hospital beds to become available.
According to the organisation, delays in admitting patients have placed additional strain on already stretched staff and affected the hospital's ability to meet demand.
Union says temporary measures are insufficient
The union acknowledged that hospital management had unilaterally opened five additional beds, staffed through overtime arrangements.
However, it said the move had failed to address the underlying problems.
According to the union, reliance on overtime staffing amounts to a temporary solution that does not resolve the hospital's structural challenges.
Burnout concerns raised
PASYDY said nursing staff have reached the limits of professional exhaustion after prolonged periods of overtime work.
"Nurses are being called upon daily to meet service demands through continuous overtime," the union said.
It warned that the situation poses risks both to the physical and mental wellbeing of healthcare workers and to patient safety.
Call for permanent solutions
The union called on the management of the State Health Services Organisation (OKYPY) to implement what it described as meaningful and long-term solutions to the hospital's ongoing difficulties.
It said temporary interventions merely mask the problem and urged authorities to take action aimed at addressing the root causes of overcrowding and staffing shortages.
Source: CNA
