“We still don’t have sufficient reasons to demand his resignation, although we expected [Sérgio Janeiro] to have done more. We believe he could have achieved more than he has so far. It has been one year since he took office, and from the perspective of the TEPH, we anticipated experiencing more changes than have occurred,” stated Rui Lázaro.
The union leader spoke to journalists after meeting with the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, INEM Board Member Alexandra Ferreira, and the Secretary of State for Public Administration, Marisa Garrido, at the Ministry of Health in Lisbon.
Rui Lázaro recalled that structural measures, including the reduction of triage times, were expected to be implemented by the first quarter of 2025.
“The last timeline we received from the INEM president was from February, and implementation was set to start in March. At least half a year has passed with no news on this implementation and without the INEM president providing justification,” he lamented.
However, the STEPH president highlighted that Ana Paula Martins informed them that “she herself will ask the INEM president” for explanations.
“We say that organizing INEM depends on more people than just the Board. We want to see the measures implemented to better respond to citizens. Whether with this president or another, our focus is on the measures,” he asserted.
Rui Lázaro added that if the INEM president breaks his word and “adopts directions contrary” to those of the union, a call for Sérgio Janeiro’s resignation might be considered.
“At this moment, if the government trusts the INEM Board and it is the government’s commitment and promise with us that we want to see fulfilled, he can continue,” he emphasized.
In today’s meeting, which lasted about two hours, the union leader reiterated to the Minister of Health the need to continue the negotiations carried over from the last term, “which INEM is slow to implement.”
“We rescheduled a working meeting at the Ministry of Finance for next week, on July 29, and received the Minister of Health’s commitment to reinforce INEM’s Board to advance structural responses that the INEM president had already scheduled and committed to with us, but which unfortunately have not yet been realized,” he stressed.
The union leader reiterated not being surprised by the conclusion of the Inspectorate General of Health Activities (IGAS), which indicated that the patient who died in Bragança could have survived if assistance had been immediate, ensuring that delays at INEM were already happening before the strike and continue to occur.
In the conclusions accessed today, IGAS states that the 86-year-old patient, who died of a myocardial infarction on October 31, 2024, in Bragança during the pre-hospital emergency technicians’ strike, had a probability of survival, although reduced. INEM took 1:20 to arrive and, according to IGAS, the man could have survived if assistance had been immediate, though workers were not blamed.
