Private clinic scuppers state treatment deal with German Oncology Centre

[memory man]

Patient undergoes radiotherapy at the Bank of Cyprus oncology centre in Nicosia

Τhe health ministry said on Friday it has suspended signing an agreement with the German Oncology Centre for services to cancer patients after a private clinic objected to the arrangement.

Until the Tenders Review Authority (AAP) examines the appeal filed by the private the agreement, which was to be signed on Friday, has been suspended.

The agreement concerns the purchase by the government of radiotherapy treatments for cancer patients and positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET/CT) provided by the German Oncology Centre.

“Following an appeal from a private clinic to the Tenders Review Authority, the signing of the contract is suspended until the examination of the matter,” the ministry said in a statement. It added that it is ready to sign the agreement with the German Oncology Centre and that it would act accordingly, depending on the decision of the AAP.

The ministry said it was sorry for the inconvenience the development has caused for patients.

The German Oncology Centre said that appeal camefrom Ygia Polyclinic, a private hospital in Limassol. It said it was ready to start treating patients and sorry “for the continuation of the hardship experienced by cancer patients” due to the appeal.

In response, the private hospital said that the reference of the oncology centre to the hardship of patients, was aimed at “turning public opinion and the competent authorities against ‘Ygia’.“

The private hospital also said that it had merely exercised a right provided for it by the constitution and the law and asked the AAP to examine the legality of the procurement of oncology services at the German Oncology Centre.

“We note that the procedure followed by the ministry of health in connection with this award was negotiation with the German Oncology Centre without prior publication of a call for tenders,” the private hospital said.

It added that it would not make further statements as the issue is being examined by the competent state authority and “possibly by courts”.

The German Oncology Centre opened last November in Ayios Athanasios, in Limassol, seeking to complement the state’s health services by providing treatment for patients from Paphos and Limassol.

Chairman Kikis Kazamias had said at the time that the centre was not there to compete with the state but to assist it, as 80 per cent of cancer patients in Cyprus seek state support to cover the cost of their medical needs.

He said it was an opportunity for the government to strike a financially favourable co-operation agreement considering that it has so far failed to set up a radiology unit in Limassol, which would cost many millions.

The centre had said that it was capable of treating patients who had to go abroad for certain procedures including like PET/CT scans.

An agreement with the government would come as a welcome relief of sorts for patients living in the west of Cyprus – Limassol, Paphos, Peyia and Polis Chrysochous, – who have the additional disruption of having to travel all the way to Nicosia to get the comprehensive therapy they need.

The Bank of Cyprus oncology centre in Nicosia is the sole provider of radiotherapy and it can take hours to get there if a patient lives outside the capital.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/06/01/priv ... gy-centre/

[Devil]

I would have thought that the needs of patients would prime over an admin argy-bargy, especially as BOCOC radiotherapy department is overloaded. Does the Ygia Polyclinic even have an advanced radiotherapy unit?

[trevnhil]

This is a real shame that the patients have to bear the hardship of this decision.. My wife has been to Nicosia for 25 consecutive working days for treatment. This entailed us getting up at 4-50am every morning to catch the bus to Nicosia.. The return journey arrived back in Paphos between 12 noon and 2pm Obviously a shorter journey to Limassol would have been preferred..

[ApusApus]

I have empathy with your situation, it smacks of a clinic raising issues for the sake of it but I admit I don't know all the facts!


Shane

[jeba]

Wouldn´t there a way around this? E. g. temporarily patients being treated privately at the GOC and being refunded the cost by the state? This is what is done in Germany if you can´t get an appointment with a public health contracted service provider within a month you can go private and public health insurance will have to pick up the bill. So EU rules seem to allow that sort of arrangement.

[trevnhil]

Have you ever tried to get a refund from anywhere in Cyprus ?? !!!!!!

[memory man]

Oncology deal eases burden on Limassol, Paphos cancer patients

A long-awaited deal was finally signed on Monday between the state and the German Oncology Centre in Limassol that will lessen the shockingly long distances cancer patients from Limassol and Paphos had to travel for treatment.

As of June 18, patients will be officially able to get radiotherapy treatment at the centre in Ayios Athanasios instead of having to travel all the way to Nicosia.

The planned deal ran into difficulties recently when another clinic submitted an appeal to the tender review board opposing the deal but withdrew it last week after a backlash, leaving the way clear for the agreement to be signed.

It was initialled in Nicosia on Monday in the presence of Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou and the director of the German Oncology Centre, Professor Nikos Zamboglou. Also present were the president of the centre, Kikis Kazamias, Disy MP Stella Kyriakidou and other officials.

Permanent secretary of the health ministry Christina Yiannaki called it the “most important decision of the cabinet after the health system”. She said the signing of the agreement ended a difficult road that at times had seemed “insurmountable”.
“But nothing is insurmountable when you know very well why you’re fighting,” she said. “But you battle on knowing you will be able to give comfort and hope but first and foremost quality of life to our cancer patients in Limassol and Paphos. We knew that with this agreement we would be able to meet a long-standing request to end their inconvenience,” she added.

Some patients have already been referred to the centre unofficially but Yiannaki said that as of June 18, it will be open to all who need radiotherapy and related services.

Yiannaki said the ministry had carried out a study with the help of experts in the field on radiotherapy so that services could be upgraded.

The findings of the study, she said, highlighted the urgent need to improve patients’ access to radiotherapy services and new imaging techniques necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The contract with the centre is for 12 months with the right to renew for another 12.
Zamboglou said it was a great day for everyone involved and promised “we will do everything we can to accomplish what we have undertaken”.

Kazamias, the centre’s president, said the centre was not created to compete with anyone but with private funds in a very short time and had been able to offer coverage where there were shortages in state-funded basic services for the needs of cancer patients especially in Limassol and Paphos.
He said that the report by experts dating from 2015 had said the supply of radiotherapy services in Cyprus, from 30 per cent of patients, should be increased to 45 per cent by 2018 and to 52 per cent by 2020.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/06/11/onco ... -patients/

[trevnhil]

This is of course very good news. The people of Limassol will be able to get treatment at a local hospital.
It will be interesting to see how it affects patients from Paphos.. Those who use their own transport will have a journey of under an hour... But I wonder if Pasykaf will run a separate bus to there.