Doctors across Cyprus are working overtime, watching appointments pile up and losing valuable clinical time — because the GHS computer system keeps breaking down, an island-wide survey has found.
The Cyprus Medical Association polled 728 doctors across all specialties between 30 September and 30 November 2025.
Some 91% said they had experienced outages or complete system unavailability, with disruptions lasting between one and four hours and occurring weekly or even daily.
The knock-on effects are widespread. Some 65% reported appointment delays, patient backlogs and an inability to deliver timely care, while 80% said they were regularly forced to work outside normal hours to catch up.
More than half — 54% — said the delays seriously affected their work. Beyond the downtime, 82% reported technical issues including disconnections, errors and freezing, and 62% said the system ran slowly on a regular basis.
Doctors were also critical of the system’s design. Some 86% described its medical protocols as unclear and bureaucratic, saying they lost valuable clinical time as a result.
Despite being the core operating tool of the GHS, only 46% rated it positively for ease of use, and just 61% said it contributed to the quality of services provided to some extent.
The Cyprus Medical Association said the findings show the problems are not isolated but systemic, and warned that quality, safe healthcare cannot exist when the system through which all medical activity is processed malfunctions so frequently and seriously.
It called for an immediate and permanent solution.