Dialysis patients in Cyprus are being denied temporary treatment arrangements that would allow them to take short holidays, with dialysis units rejecting 44 such requests, according to patient advocacy groups.
A patient who wanted to spend a few days with his wife at their holiday home in the free area of Famagusta was refused permission to transfer and reduce his treatment there from three sessions per week to two during his planned break. The rejection forced him to cancel his holiday entirely.
“This is not the only dialysis patient who submits a similar request to the dialysis unit of the specific hospital and receives a negative answer,” Marios Kouloumas, honorary president of the Federation of Patient Associations of Cyprus (CyFPA/OSAK), told Phileleftheros.
Political intervention required for approval
Kouloumas said patients only receive approval for temporary arrangements if they approach OSAK or contact an MP, politician or other official. Without such intervention, requests are systematically denied.
“If the patient approaches OSAK or some MP, politician or other competent person, then they have a chance to be served. If they don’t do it, unfortunately, the answer remains negative,” he said, adding that patients who sought OSAK’s intervention were subsequently accommodated.
The federation has documented complaints about the Famagusta dialysis unit’s operational practices beyond the holiday request denials, including concerns about doctor availability during treatment and working patterns.
Continuous access declared fundamental right
Kouloumas described uninterrupted access to prescribed treatment as “one of the most important rights of patients” and said denial of patient accommodation by any institution, particularly a hospital, was unacceptable.
“Everyone knows that dialysis units are under pressure. However, this should not be an excuse to lock patients in their homes, not to give them the right to spend even a few days with their family on holiday,” he said.
Dialysis patients face numerous challenges when planning holidays, including managing proper nutrition and medication. The treatment, which literally keeps patients alive, allows no compromises, Kouloumas explained.
“When we tell them ‘no’ it means we condemn them to immobility, to their confinement, to depression, and to the suffering of themselves and the rest of their family members,” he said.
Broader operational concerns raised
The federation has received serious complaints about the unit’s operation, including the conduct of two doctors staffing it and their availability during patient treatment hours.
“Patients have reported to us that during their treatment there is no doctor present. This is an issue which we supposedly had solved in Cyprus,” Kouloumas said, describing the situation as dangerous for patients connected to dialysis machines.
Additional complaints concern doctors’ working hours, with frequent absences during weekdays when the unit operates and their presence at weekends and holidays when it does not.
Health authority faces pressure to act
OSAK has contacted the relevant State Health Services Organisation (SHSO) directorate reporting the problems but says there appears to be no appetite for serious solutions due to fears doctors might resign and paralyse the nephrology department and dialysis unit.
Even after the federation formally wrote requesting answers about the patient denied temporary treatment, no response has been received, Kouloumas said.
The organisation called for SHSO intervention to resolve what it described as a complex problem affecting patient care and quality of life at the Famagusta facility.