GHS physios strike over broken promises

Physiotherapists registered with the General Healthcare System staged a two-hour stoppage on Friday in protest of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) not sticking to its side of pay agreements.

Physiotherapists argue that HIO has gone back on agreements, slashing the original sums agreed as compensation for their services.

Talking to state radio, the president of the physios association Irene Zannettou said, “physiotherapists cannot continue funding patients’ increased needs via reductions and cutbacks.”

She said that physiotherapists saw their fees reduced by 15% in the past year, while the HIO argued that there is a 30% increase in demand.

“We believe the HIO does not respect us, nor does it understand the important role we have in the GHS and the health sector in general,” said Zannettou.

“A general health system without physiotherapists is simply unheard of.

“That is why we were pushing to be integrated into GHS so that everyone could have access to physiotherapists.”

There are 1,400 physiotherapists registered with the association, of which 850 are members of the GHS.