Cyprus is in second place after Switzerland in the international index of satisfaction with the availability of medical services.
This is shown by data from a nationwide survey of beneficiaries of the General Healthcare System (GHS). At the same time, almost one in three respondents admitted that they face difficulties when trying to obtain the care they need.
The survey was conducted by the Institute of Marketing Research (IMR) at the University of Nicosia from 8 to 14 September 2026. A representative sample of 1,000 GHS beneficiaries took part in the study. The results were presented by Christina Kokkalou, founder and managing director of IMR / University of Nicosia, at the 9th Cyprus Healthcare Conference. Cypriot data were analysed in comparison with the findings of the international PaRIS study conducted by the OECD. That project covered 19 countries and more than 107,000 patients. The Cypriot study is an independent measurement, but some of its results were compared with the corresponding international benchmarks.
In the index of satisfaction with the availability of healthcare services, Cyprus scored 75 percent, taking second place after Switzerland, where the figure was 85 percent. Cyprus significantly outperformed the average result across the 19 countries, which stands at 64 percent.
Cyprus also exceeded the international average on the reliability index, recording 66 percent. About seven in ten citizens said they are confident they can obtain a medical service when they need it. This confidence is stronger among older age groups.
The findings point to a broader shift in public attitudes over the past decade. In 2014, only 57 percent of citizens believed that GHS would be able to function at all. Two years later, in 2016, 72 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the healthcare system then in place. Today, seven years after the introduction of GHS, 75 percent still say they remain optimistic about the system, despite acknowledging its weaknesses and problems in everyday operation. As the survey results show, citizens no longer question the usefulness or necessity of the system. They assess it more strictly and place higher demands on it.
The figures demonstrate how deeply GHS has become integrated into everyday life.
Over the past two years, 95 percent of beneficiaries visited their personal doctor, and 86 percent saw a specialist. Eighty-three percent received medicines, and 81 percent underwent laboratory tests. Sixty-four percent visited a dentist, and half used the services of other medical specialists. About one in four received inpatient care, while six percent used rehabilitation services.
Satisfaction with personal doctors was especially high: 88 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the quality of care received. Despite this positive picture, access to healthcare services remains a serious problem, especially in certain specialties. Thirty-one percent of beneficiaries — almost one in three — reported difficulties when trying to obtain the care they needed. The problem is more pronounced among women and younger citizens.
A separate finding concerns those who ultimately could not obtain a service at all. Thirteen percent of respondents said that in the past twelve months they needed an examination or treatment that they were unable to receive. The most frequently cited reasons were a lack of available appointments, long waiting times, and the absence of GHS coverage for the examination or service. Less often mentioned were a shortage of an available specialist and the absence of a provider in a particular area.
Regarding waiting times, 60 percent of citizens said they were very or fairly satisfied with the waiting time for an appointment with a specialist, while the remaining 40 percent expressed dissatisfaction. Almost six in ten managed to book an appointment in less than a month. Twenty-six percent waited from one to three months, and 15 percent waited more than three months. Significant differences are observed depending on the specialty.
As the study showed, waiting lists remain a problem, but the situation has improved.
In 2026, the share of respondents who named queues as the main shortcoming of the system fell by 15 percentage points. For the first time, waiting lists ceased to be the main problem highlighted by beneficiaries.
The leading weakness is now the lack of coverage for specific examinations — mentioned by 47 percent of respondents, although this figure also improved, falling by three percentage points. Next come waiting lists at 42 percent, the need to obtain a referral at 40 percent, and the non-participation of certain providers in the system at 26 percent. This picture indicates that public demand is shifting from the mere existence of the system toward expanding the list of covered services and making access to them simpler.
Source: en.philenews.com
https://cyprusbutterfly.com.cy/news/kipr-vtorom-meste-mire-urovnyu
