**NICOSIA, Cyprus** – The private healthcare sector in Cyprus is grappling with an acute and escalating shortage of nursing staff, a crisis the Cyprus Association of Private Hospitals (Pasin) attributes directly to the prevailing influence of public sector nursing unions and a perceived inertia within the Health Ministry. Pasin’s president, Marios Karaiskakis, voiced profound exasperation on Friday morning, stating, “We have run out of words,” as private hospitals teeter on the brink of severe operational disruption.
The crux of the contention lies in a stalled legislative proposal designed to alleviate the staffing deficit. This bill, which would have facilitated the employment of foreign nationals who had completed their nursing education at Cypriot universities, has been unceremoniously shelved. The primary obstacle, according to Pasin, is the staunch opposition mounted by public sector nursing unions. This resistance, Pasin argues, is not only detrimental to patient care but also serves to perpetuate a system that benefits the unions through sustained wage inflation, a direct consequence of persistent staff scarcity.
Further compounding the frustration is the government's recent proposal to commission a new study examining the nursing shortage. This initiative, which unions had reportedly demanded despite the existence of prior assessments, is viewed by Pasin as a dilatory tactic. “We need nurses yesterday and they are talking about a new study,” Karaiskakis lamented, underscoring the urgency of the situation. The association contends that the Health Ministry has demonstrably failed to implement tangible solutions and has not honoured commitments previously made to the private hospital sector.
A particularly contentious point of legislation, cited by Pasin as demonstrably discriminatory and union-engineered, dictates that foreign-trained nurses graduating from Cypriot institutions must possess a post-graduate nursing qualification to practice in Cyprus. This stands in stark contrast to the requirement for their Cypriot counterparts, who are only obligated to hold a Bachelor's degree. Pasin vehemently argues that this disparity constitutes a deliberate impediment to the recruitment of qualified international nurses, effectively creating a protected market for existing staff and exacerbating the shortage.
The ramifications of this impasse are dire for private healthcare providers. Pasin has issued a stark warning that, without immediate intervention and a resolution to the staffing crisis, private hospitals may be compelled to take drastic measures. These could include the refusal of new patient admissions, the cessation of certain services, or, in the most extreme scenario, the outright closure of facilities. Such outcomes would undoubtedly have a profound impact on the accessibility and quality of healthcare services available to the Cypriot population.
The situation highlights a significant disconnect between the operational realities faced by private hospitals and the legislative and regulatory environment shaped by union influence and governmental policy. As the nursing deficit deepens, the capacity of Cyprus's private healthcare system to adequately serve its patients is increasingly compromised, raising serious questions about the long-term sustainability of the sector and the government's commitment to addressing critical public service needs.