“We have hundreds of services with 100% adherence from nurses. We are respecting the legally established minimum services, but we have hundreds of units and health centers open without nurses, and therefore, there is a strong impact on external consultations, health centers, and scheduled surgeries in operating theaters,” José Carlos Martins told reporters.
Several hundred nurses gathered today outside the Ministry of Health in Lisbon to protest against the ACT proposal put forward by the government, which they believe is detrimental to the profession.
The professionals delivered a motion with over 11,000 signatures against the ACT to the Ministry of Health.
“This shows one thing. The Ministry of Health needs to understand that nurses do not support this idea of working more hours for less income,” said the leader of the Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP).
According to José Carlos Martins, the government intends to demand 60 hours of work per week, “amid a severe shortage of nurses,” while planning to cut pay for night hours, weekends, and overtime.
“Moreover, they are removing progression rules for our younger colleagues,” he lamented.
Among the sectors most affected by today’s strike, José Carlos Martins indicated that “scheduled surgeries are being heavily impacted,” although rescheduling is being done “to minimize the impact on citizens,” as well as non-urgent interventions in health centers and external consultations.
According to the unionist, around 11:30, there were about 500 nurses outside the Ministry.
José Carlos Martins also stated that there is no “meeting scheduled by the Ministry of Health with any union.”
To Lusa, Susana Cid, a nurse since 2019 at São José’s local health unit (Lisbon), considered the professionals’ struggle fair and necessary in light of the new ACT.
“It’s an attack on nurses’ lives,” she stated, emphasizing that only through mobilization can measures endangering the rights of the profession be halted.
As an example of undervaluation, she pointed to the psychiatry emergency department at Hospital Dona Estefânia, where mental health specialist nurses are required during afternoon and night shifts — without adequate compensation.
“This is an example of how the government devalues nurses,” she denounced.
José Afonso, a nurse for 25 years at Matosinhos’s ULS (Porto), also found the proposal presented by the government “completely unacceptable.”
“It shows the lack of respect they have for the profession,” he stated, describing the agreement as “a handful of nothing” that demands total dedication from professionals’ working time.
According to the nurse, the new model threatens hard-won rights, such as shift changeover time and the value of work in more demanding schedules.
“It’s inadmissible, in today’s world, for the government to want any worker to work up to 12 hours a day, up to 60 hours a week,” he denounced, warning about the degrading working conditions.
The nurse lamented that, for the first time, an agreement is being negotiated without any concessions.
“I have never seen such a proposal. Only asking, only demanding, and giving nothing,” he criticized, reinforcing that nurses’ struggle is the only way to ensure respect and justice for the profession.
[News updated at 14:13]
