The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of patient transfers within the Cyclades islands, Greece, in order to contribute to a better understanding of the islanders' healthcare needs and optimise the provision of emergency medical services.
A retrospective quantitative study of medical air and sea transport records of 4,169 patients from the Cyclades islands to Syros, from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2022.
Most of the patient transfers (20.3%) were recorded in 2022. Half of them were transported from Tinos (25.6%) and Paros (25.3%), 60.1% in summertime, 12.4% in August, 15.1% on Saturdays and 44.7% between 12.00 and 18.00 h. Private-owned boats were the main medical transport providers, although the average transport time by private-owned means was longer than that by state-owned means (p < 0.001). The average transport cost was €3,526.06 and the total cost was €14,682,525.14. 92.3% of the patients transferred were admitted to Syros General Hospital. They were treated for an average of 4.7 days, and the reason for their transfer had a significant impact on their hospitalisation (p < 0.001). The most common reason for patient transfers (6.2%) was a stroke.
This research is original and aims at forming the basis for future studies on patient transfers in the Cyclades, as well as for the development of healthcare policies for the islanders themselves.
