Nursing staff at Larnaca General Hospital staged an unannounced work stoppage on Wednesday from 8:00 am to 9:00 am, citing overcrowding, lengthy patient waits in the emergency department and exhausting overtime.
Nurses said the situation has reached breaking point and called on the State Health Services Organisation (SHSO) for permanent solutions.
In a statement, the Pancyprian Public Employees Trade Union (PASYDY) and its Nursing Staff Branch said the main cause of the action is overcrowding at the hospital in recent days, which has left patients waiting for hours in the emergency department until a bed becomes available.
The hospital’s management opened five additional beds, staffed on an overtime basis, but the union said this has not resolved the problem.
PASYDY and the Nursing Branch said staff are now at the limits of professional burnout, with nurses required to cover increased demand through continuous overtime work. They said this is taking a toll on both the physical and mental health of staff and on patient safety.
PASYDY and the Nursing Staff Branch called on SHSO’s management to pursue substantial, permanent solutions to Larnaca General Hospital’s long-standing problems, rather than what they described as temporary interventions that simply shift the problem elsewhere.
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