?he first Accident and Emergency Department for Children is up and running at the Nicosia general hospital on a pilot basis since Monday, with Cyprus’ Health Minister, Michalis Hadjipantela, expressing satisfaction for the achievement of yet another goal set by the Government and his Ministry.
The A&E Department for Children includes three examination rooms, and is located within the Accident and Emergency Department area of the Nicosia General Hospital. It is currently staffed by three permanent paediatricians, while, by the end of February the staff will increase to five.
Competent authorities said that, if a child needs to be admitted to hospital for further treatment, they will be transferred to the Makarios Hospital that operates as a children’s hospital.
Referring to the procedure, Hadjipantela, who visited the new department on Wednesday, said that children, upon arrival at the Nicosia general hospital A&E Department’s triage centre, will be referred to the specially designated area for children, to be examined by paediatricians.
He said they will assess the operation of the new department weekly, and solve any problems immediately.
The Director of the Nicosia general hospitals’ A&E Department, Andreas Eliades, said that the children’s A&E Department is operating on a pilot basis, calling on the members of the public to show understanding, since, as he said, for the time being, the Department is partially staffed. He said that they expect that, they will have more staff within the coming days.
He noted that, all the infrastructure used for adults will also be used for children. The difference is that children up to 16 years of age will be examined by a specialist paediatrician in a specially designed area, he explained.
Source: Cyprus News Agency