The current management approach of the National Health Service (SNS) by short-term navigation has effects on both patients and healthcare professionals, necessitating adequate funding for human and material resources,” stated Fátima Monteiro, regional director coordinator of the Porto division of the Sindicato dos Enfermeiros Portugueses (SEP).
In an interview given after a press conference held by the Sindicato dos Enfermeiros Portugueses near Hospital de Santo António (Porto), aimed at drawing attention to the ongoing shortage of nurses in the SNS and the high prevalence of burnout among them, Monteiro criticized the Ministry of Health for its lack of short- to medium-term planning.
“What is evident in this Ministry [of Health] is the absence of short- to medium-term planning. These plans should be approved by the first or second month of the year, yet as we approach the year’s end, the Organizational Development Plans (PDO) for 2025 remain unauthorized.”
“PDOs are the staff maps where institutions declare their nursing needs based on hours of care required,” Monteiro clarified. “However, without authorization, these institutions cannot hire nurses for permanent positions. They might hire nurses on a temporary basis, but temporary contracts do not retain nurses.”
Monteiro also warned that “shifting to private services is not the solution.”
“Not only is it more expensive, but soon, private services may also be unable to meet demands. Being a financier rather than a provider is not the right path. Strengthening the SNS involves valuing professionals, investing in the SNS itself, and facilitating the hiring of nurses with good working conditions,” she advocated.
The Sindicato dos Enfermeiros Portugueses highlighted today that nurses in hospitals around Porto worked over 600,000 overtime hours in the first half of this year and that there is a high incidence of burnout among them.
Monteiro noted that there could be a shortage of approximately 20,000 nurses nationwide.
The SEP also calls for the establishment of a fair and appropriate performance evaluation system tailored to the specific interventions and roles of nurses, as well as the promotion of recruitment processes for various nursing categories such as nurse, specialist nurse, and nurse manager.
Other demands include the assurance of continuous training, safety, and health improvements, increased mental health protections, salary harmonization among all nurses, and resolving inequalities in annual vacation days.
