Cardiovascular surgery dept yet to be restored
THE cardiovascular surgery department of Lefkoşa State Hospital has not been fully restored, more than a year after it was gutted by a fire.
Cardiovascular surgery specialist Dr Ozan Emiroğlu stated that because there is only one operating room in the department and surgery is performed every day, patients who need urgent surgery are sent to external centres. Others are put on waiting lists, sometimes for more than two months, he said.
He also complained that while the oncology department has an early diagnosis centre, there is no such centre for cardiovascular disease.
“If you want to make an appointment right now, you will get one two months later,” he said.
“This delays the diagnosis. After this disease develops, the burden increases. For this reason, importance should be given to preventive medicine like the whole world does. The state should also follow a policy for cardiovascular diseases.”
Dr Emiroğlu stated that a new project was drawn up by the Planning and Construction Department to reconstruct the cardiovascular surgery department but due to “bureaucracy”, the project could only be completed last month.
Pointing out that the project is “stuck in bureaucracy again”, Dr Emiroğlu said: “The tender process has not even begun yet . . . There will be two operating theatres and the intensive care unit will be expanded. We are waiting for a tender from the ministry and the government.”
Dr Emiroğlu stated that with the implementation of the new project, the number of operating theatres will increase to two and the number of beds in the intensive care unit to 15. He said that this project will be sufficient for now but there “may be problems again” in the future depending on population increases.
Deaths caused by cardiovascular disease are “more than the deaths caused by Covid19” Dr Emiroğlu noted.
“While about 2 million people all over the world have died from Covid-19 to date, 7.5 million people suffer from cardiovascular diseases every year. The ratios in Cyprus are similar to these rates. Deaths occur every week.”