Okypy rejects nurses’ claims over heart attack patients

The state health services organisation (Okypy) on Wednesday said allegations by Pasydy union nurses’ branch that inadequate staffing at Nicosia general hospital led to two patients suffering a heart attack “do not correspond to reality”.

The union’s general secretary Savvas Iacovou said two patients admitted through the accident and emergency department were not transferred to their designated wards and were instead placed temporarily in another ward that was overcrowded and understaffed.

He said the lack of supervision by experienced personnel put both patients at risk.

“We don’t have the wards staffed because we don’t have personnel. These are decisions by the organisation not to fully staff the wards,” Iacovou said.

According to the union, both patients suffered cardiac arrest while in the ward.

“They were revived, but their lives were in serious danger. One is currently being treated in intensive care,” Iacovou said.

Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou responded that cardiac arrests occur daily in hospitals and rejected the suggestion that patient placement amounted to a safety failure.

“At this moment at Nicosia general hospital there are at least 20 patients in wards other than the speciality they belong to. Does this mean all these people are in danger and that we are putting patients at risk?” he asked.

Charilaou said the two cases in question involve an orthopaedic and a pulmonology patient.

“The fact that we have overcrowding during this period, as happens every year at this time, cannot justify statements of this kind which do not correspond to reality,” he said.

The dispute comes amid wider warnings from nursing unions about pressure on public hospitals during the winter months, with increased admissions for respiratory illnesses and influenza.

Unions have also pointed to delays in approving the 2026 Okypy budget, saying this has prevented the recruitment of additional staff.

Nursing representatives argue that without an approved budget, hospitals are unable to strengthen staffing levels despite rising demand, while Okypy maintains that patient safety is not being compromised.

No official findings have yet been issued in relation to the incidents referred to by the union.