Paphos Life

Hi
Phoned on Tuesday for an appointment,given 10.30 am Wednesday morning.No wait,straight in.Doctor put my repeat prescription on computer,six months prescription.Told to go to ANY pharmacy,produce your ARC number and hey presto.
Went to our nearest pharmacy,gave him my ID card with Aliens number on,he entered it on his system and there was my prescription.No paperwork,no need to visit GP now for repeat prescription for SIX months.Collect from pharmacy on a monthly basis.
The system is great,I for one will not miss them queues at the General Hospital.

That's good tonee,but what is an ARC number.

Alien Registration Card

Great to know tonee , thanks for sharing , which doctor/ hospital are you with ?

We are lucky to live in Cyprus at this time of change .

We are off to see our doctor at the evangelismos next week .

Hi There,

Sounds good but if my calculation is correct it will now cost 4 times the amount it cost before to get your medications.

Was 50c per item every 2 months now 1 euro an item every month, or am I missing something.

I suppose you save on seeing a doctors fee every 2 months

Tonee... Many thank for relating your first experience of Gesy... This is how we thought it was going to be, and your story confirms that at least for you it is working just fine..

I hope everyone has a similar experience.. I am particularly glad about the 'Use any pharmacy', as our usual pharmacy said we had to choose just one pharmacy..

Hi
My doctor is in the Blue cross.Yes,it,s one euro per item as opposed to fifty cents per item at the General,I had three items,so taking into account its three euros to see a GP at the General it ended up one euro and fifty cents cheaper and much,much less hassle

But of course it will not be 3 euros to see a Gesy GP at the general, it should be nothing now.. IF you are in the new system..

1 euro per prescriptive item is an excellent price - don't knock it!
It's £8.80p per item here in UK.
Luckily, I turned 60 last year so mine are now free but my other half is still paying for his for a couple more years...

I managed to squirrel most of my prescriptives away from Cyprus before we left. They made a bit of a mistake there and were doubling up on my inhalers and HRT tablets so it meant I only paid for 4 lots of prescriptions in the 2+ years after we returned to UK in 2016 before I reached my birthday when I got free prescriptions.... They were €0,50c per item then for my HRT as opposed to €25 at the pharmacy. Thank heavens for the Cyprus medical card!

Photolady , when we arrived in Cyprus 10 years ago the doctors said they did not prescribe HRT . So my wife used to buy the HRT patch from whatever pharmacy for a few years . Then she decided to come off it gradually .

I've been on it since I was 42 years old.
I took a break from it for 6 months starting over the winter one time while we were living in Cyprus around 2006, but it was a nightmare, all the while trying various other remedies and comparing notes with my local lady pharmacist.
I arranged an appointment with a gynecologist and had a smear test, ovary scan and a bone density test whereafter he pronounced I was in no danger from brittle bones and wouldn't prescribe the medication.
Back to my local lady GP in my village and after a check up and questions she put me on the medication I'm still on now.
I sleep only 5hrs per night and have always done from being in my 30s. Without the medication, the night sweats had me awake every hour and I was knackered, as well as chucking clothing on and off throughout the day.
I still have the sweats about half a dozen times per day and wake at least once overnight, but they're much shorter and easier to cope with whilst on my medication.
My mum was on HRT also and came off hers about 10 years ago - she's nearly 79 now and she started with the menopause symptoms and sweats soon after she stopped her tablets, which are different to mine. She's still having the symptoms!
I've decided, if it means I can lead a normal life albeit I accept mine may perhaps be a little shorter, then so be it.
I'm happy with the medication and there's no family medical reasons why I shouldn't take it...
I've also discussed it with my new GPs since we returned to UK after the 12yrs we spent in Cyprus and they're okay with me to stay on it so far...

There will be many 'queries' no doubt regarding this new system, and I hope that members will continue to write about their experiences.
I got word last night that I have been accepted into the system but need to call in at the GP's to sign some papers..
One query I have is when you go to see a consultant at the Hospital (I visit two) then how do they prescribe tablets for you.. I do have two consultant's appointments in the coming weeks so I will no doubt find out then ..

My wife had a different experience yesterday, we are with REDACTED as we were at the General, he is now at the REDACTED clinic with GESY.

My wife could not get to see him yesterday and was told to make another appointment for next Monday as she needed her prescriptions, unfortunately she has to go back to the UK urgently for family problems on Sunday, so she ended up paying for her prescription drugs €50 out of her own pocket, it was fortunate that REDACTED who runs our local Pharmacy did let her buy these prescription drugs, it looks to be a lottery regarding your GP and who you chose, if you really need a doctor urgently here god knows what you would do, pay I guess privately, this new system will no doubt work eventually but for sure not all of us are so lucky seeing a GP.

P.S Our GP only works 5 hours per day at the hospital, and he will not always be available, then what?

Also is it possible to change your registered GP for another under this new system, anyone know how to do this?

Thank you.

No need for you, to mention the Pharmacist, as what she did was illegal.

--- ADMIN EDIT ---

I have redacted portions of this message. WHL did nothing wrong, and merely quoted another user, who posted something they shouldn't have. The original post has since been deleted but I am leaving the redacted version of WHL's response here, because it highlights a good point.

Flossie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:55 amI am having trouble registering with my GP at the Evangelismos as the system doesn't recognise my ARC number and I am a dependent of my GC husband (his registration took 10 seconds!). The Citizens Office were useless and incredibly rude, whereas the Gesy helpdesk said I SHOULD be on there but couldn't tell me WHY I wasn't!

The best thing to do is go to your preferred GP and they will sort it out.

Our registration took seconds online and we received emails confirming we were accepted and registered. We then went to the Dr. to compete the registration as requested and he told us we were rejected but he sorted it out there and then and assured us we were now registered with him and gave us the paperwork to confirm so. When I logged back onto the Gesy website, it had us as rejected, checked with the Dr. again and he said we were 100% him patients.

Flossie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:55 am I am having trouble registering with my GP at the Evangelismos as the system doesn't recognise my ARC number and I am a dependent of my GC husband (his registration took 10 seconds!). The Citizens Office were useless and incredibly rude, whereas the Gesy helpdesk said I SHOULD be on there but couldn't tell me WHY I wasn't!

Initially, I had massive issues with it not recognising me. I found the GESY helpdesk unbelievably helpful, as were the Social Insurance people in linking my SI number to my ARC number (this was in Polis though). After many failed attempts in registering, it turns out that there were two spaces between my first and last names in the government data warehouse records for some reason, and lady on the GESY helpdesk very diligently tracked this down. Once I entered my name like this, everything was fine.

I registered with one of the Polis Evangelismos doctors, again very quick, easy and helpful. He says that although it's a bit of a clickfest for him as everything is now online, the first few days were actually much better than expected.

Jim, re your question about changing the doctor you are registered with. When I did my registration online and chose my doctor there, there was a note to say that you could change your doctor in 6 months time.

Hi, Wooooooooooooow that was great, long may it remain, am yet to try the system hope I have the luck you got. regards, dimsum

Flossie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:55 am Gesy is in a mess - they sacked the chap in charge yesterday which may be a good thing as he sounds most unpleasant..!

https://cyprus-mail.com/2019/06/05/chie ... ng-claims/

I am having trouble registering with my GP at the Evangelismos as the system doesn't recognise my ARC number and I am a dependent of my GC husband (his registration took 10 seconds!). The Citizens Office were useless and incredibly rude, whereas the Gesy helpdesk said I SHOULD be on there but couldn't tell me WHY I wasn't!

His sacking had nothing to do with the GESY system. I have used GESY myself without any problems, and everybody I've spoken to, think it's a great improvement on the old system.

Flossie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:48 pm Read the artcle - enough people who worked for him say he was a bully!

Yes, I have, but I can't see how bullying could effect the GESY system.

I collected my Gesy certificate this morning, so I am registered now.. i have no idea when i will need to see a GP though.. I usually just see 2 or 3 consultants at the General.. So I have yet to find out what the consultants do about giving you a prescription ???