Allegations of on-call specialists at state hospitals being paid for not being at work are not what they seem, state health services organisation (Okypy) spokesman Charalambos Charilaou said on Wednesday.

He said consideration has to be taken of the sample of the survey and the days on which it was carried out.

He was responding to Tuesday’s report by the Audit Office which said that specialist on-call doctors at the Larnaca general hospital were being paid up to €850 per shift without turning up to work.

In a reply to the Audit Office included in the report, Okypy CEO Kypros Stavrides said the E&A documents were regularly checked, however deducting shift compensation was not implemented if doctors were not there physically, due to the objection of their trade unions.

On Wednesday, Politis newspaper said this was not restricted to Larnaca, but had been found at Nicosia general hospital as well, according to an Audit Office report in 2024.

Speaking on Trito, Charilaou said Tuesday’s report was based on data from 2023 and specifically a weekend in the summer, from August 4 to 6, and the inspection was carried out to determine some procedural and regulatory issues.

“It had nothing to do with care or treatment,” Charilaou pointed out.

During that inspection at Larnaca general hospital, 48 cases out of the 453 that visited the E&A were chosen for the sample. “Of those, 25 were discharged and there is no mention of them in the report. Just the number,” Charilaou explained.

The remaining 23 examined were cases that were admitted to hospital and were overseen by five doctors.

The report stated that “on-call specialists … in most cases in the sample are not documented as having presented themselves” to the hospital’s accident and emergency unit, “even when patient admission was required”.

As such, it said, “the examination and care of patients appears to have been undertaken by resident doctors”, even though the on-call specialists who were not there received between €450 and €850 each per shift.

“It was found that this practice has become established, without a clear process which ensures the optimal use of resources, maximum patient safety, and appropriate training of resident doctors,” it added.

“Patients may not receive appropriate services in an accident and emergency unit sitting, which may put their health at risk.”

It also found that documentation produced by the accident and emergency department “are kept in completely unsuitable spaces, without an archiving system”, such as the hospital’s physiotherapy pool.

Charilaou acknowledged that “the situation in the warehouse – because it is being used as a warehouse – is unacceptable.”

He added that there was a lack of space, however it was imperative “to keep these spaces tidy and keep patient archives in a safe place”.

Politis said the Audit Office issued a similar report in 2024 regarding the Nicosia general hospital, finding insufficient documentation and doctors not being physically present on their shifts.