Patient transfers postponed, appointments cancelled at the last minute, and one patient admitted to intensive care after the ambulance service failed to respond — complaints received last month by the Patient Rights Observatory of the Cyprus Federation of Patient Associations (OSAK) paint a troubling picture of the state of ambulance services in Cyprus.
The Observatory said it was the first time it had recorded a relatively large number of complaints on this specific issue.
The head of the Ambulance Service, Riana Konstantinou, acknowledged there is “a problem with the transfer of patients to hospitals, their doctors, or wherever they need to go to receive healthcare services.” She said the problem stems from the fact that the Service currently handles both emergency, life-threatening cases and patients who need routine transfers. Around 30 ambulances operate island-wide for transfers — a number that, she said, “has long been found to be insufficient to cover all needs.” When emergencies arise, she added, “we will certainly respond first to life-threatening situations.”
Konstantinou noted that in 2025, the Service carried out 45,000 patient transfers. She also stressed that “for this reason we have repeatedly highlighted in recent years the need to modernise ambulance services in Cyprus.”
The complaints
The first complaint involved a temporarily immobilised patient who also undergoes dialysis. The patient’s family contacted the Ambulance Service for transport to a scheduled dialysis session, but were told that due to limited ambulance availability in their area, it was not possible to assist.
In the second case, a bedridden patient missed a scheduled medical appointment after no ambulance was available, despite having notified the Service in advance. Her next available appointment was set two months later. OSAK said it contacted the Ambulance Service and was informed by an official that there is “a serious understaffing problem, resulting in the cancellation of scheduled patient transfers,” with staff frequently working overtime to cover serious cases.
The third complaint came from a man whose wife — a patient with kidney disease and mobility problems — was taken to A&E by ambulance for a urinary tract infection requiring intravenous antibiotics. After five hours at the emergency department, the family was told the return trip home would not be free and would cost €75. The Observatory noted that ambulance transfers are free only when the patient is bedridden and holds a referral from their personal doctor.
One patient ended up in ICU
The most serious case involved a mother who called the Ambulance Service for her son, who was experiencing severe lower abdominal pain. According to her complaint, the Service did not respond to the request for an ambulance and instead advised him to take a painkiller. The son was eventually taken to hospital by a third party. On arrival, his condition was deemed serious and he was admitted to the intensive care unit due to infection.
OSAK was informed that, based on recorded data, “the case was assessed under triage protocols as not immediately life-threatening, resulting in lower priority being assigned and a reasonable waiting time due to the management of more urgent cases.”
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