The House Health Committee has decided to adopt a provision for one main medical school per hospital in the bill establishing university clinics, Phileleftheros understands. The decision was taken on Thursday during the committee’s article-by-article examination of the bill.
The provision had been one of the main points of disagreement among the bodies involved, and the Ministry of Health supports it following earlier consultations. It is also one of the demands of University of Cyprus Medical School students, who protested outside parliament on Thursday and handed a memorandum to members of the committee.
Under the provision, each hospital will work with one main medical school, which will be responsible for developing the university clinics and coordinating teaching and research. As clarified at earlier committee sessions, this does not rule out cooperation with other medical schools to train their students.
Staffing demand pending
The students’ second key demand, that every university clinic be staffed by at least three university doctors, remains pending. Thursday’s discussion did not reach that part of the bill, so no decision has been taken, Phileleftheros understands.
The demand is expected to come before the committee, since the article-by-article examination takes into account the comments of all the bodies involved, including the views of the Ministry of Health and the Law Office of the Republic, which take part in the parliamentary process.
