A commotion occurred yesterday at the Limassol general hospital when patients entered the archive looking for their medical records which had been lost. As a result, the policemen situated in the hospital were asked to intervene.
The problem with patients’ medical records has been going on for several days at the Limassol hospital. Doctors have complained that they were no patient files but only new and empty envelopes before them and therefore they could not provide proper care for their patients.
Yesterday, patients entered doctors’ examination rooms but were informed that their records had not been found. They then asked at the archives but because the records were still not found they decided to look for them themselves.
The “invasion” resulted in the policemen being called in to intervene. As a result, a police officer stood at the entrance of the hospital’s archive and assumed archive duties, trying to help find the lost medical record. Some of the “lost” folders were detected, others were not.
The problem with patients’ medical records is, of course, not new and the phenomenon of having two or even three files because of the clutter and lack of orginization in all public hospitals archives is too frequent and does not only apply to the Limassol hospital. According to Limassol hospital employees the problem is caused by understaffing .
