“I believe it’s important to combat inefficiency in the National Health Service (SNS). However, the Health Minister must clarify the purpose of the team she intends to establish. I hope this isn’t a diversion from addressing serious deficiencies in medical emergency services,” stated José Luís Carneiro.
The socialist leader, speaking to journalists in Baião, Porto district, during the introduction of Paulo Pereira as the PS candidate for the Municipal Council, recalled a question he posed in Parliament.
“Some days ago, we asked the Prime Minister why, a year ago, he promised an emergency plan for hospitals. He committed to it in September last year, yet a year has passed, and there’s no coordination plan for emergencies in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, nor for the Setúbal Peninsula, where over 800,000 people reside,” he remarked.
Regarding Ana Paula Martins’ announcement, he emphasized: “I hope it’s not a tactic to distract from the lack of response for which they should have been working over these months to find a solution.”
The government will establish a Fraud Combat Unit within the SNS, set to collaborate with the Judiciary Police and the Attorney General’s Office, confirmed the Ministry of Health today.
“The necessary legislation to create this Unit is being finalized and will be presented to the Council of Ministers by the end of the month,” stated the Health Minister’s office in a written note.
The establishment of the Fraud Combat Unit in the SNS was reported today and was already included in the Government’s Program.
According to the Ministry of Health, “the mission of the new unit is to detect, prevent, and combat fraud, abuses, and irregularities, aiming to ensure that public resources invested in the SNS serve citizens.”
This national unit will work “in collaboration with the Judiciary Police, the Attorney General’s Office, and other entities.”
Addressing the threat from the Portuguese Firefighters League to suspend the use of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) ambulances for a day if the government doesn’t settle the pre-hospital emergency service debts by Wednesday, José Luís Carneiro considered the lack of planning in this area as “evident.”
“Does it make any sense for pregnant women to go from door to door, from place to place, not knowing where they will give birth? There’s no predictability or safety.”
He asserted that “the government should have focused on coordinating hospital emergencies,” regretting that “after these months, there’s still no solution.”
“We are asking the government to plan, execute, and monitor results. What the government is showing is a significant failure in an area vital to people’s lives (…) The government must address these needs. Each difficulty shouldn’t be met with a kind of illusionary trick to distract people from what’s essential,” he concluded.
