“It is doubly concerning because, besides the lack of necessary healthcare for the people in the Algarve, during the peak summer season, when the population is four or five times larger than during the rest of the year, it projects a poor image of a destination that is not secure from a healthcare perspective,” he stated.
In comments to Lusa, the president of AMAL expressed understanding for the reasons behind the strike, noting that those living in the Algarve “recognize the effort that the entire sector, all the professionals, nurses, assistants, and also the doctors make to provide the necessary care” for residents and visitors in the region.
Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are set to observe a 24-hour strike from midnight to 11:59 PM Thursday in the Algarve, protesting against the shortage of professionals in the sector and worsening working conditions.
According to António Miguel Pina, “there is a significant lack of investment” in Algarve hospitals, compounded by the fact that “more than a year has passed” without the government providing “a clear and concrete word on the construction of the new hospital,” which would be “a light at the end of the tunnel.”
“But, above all, there is also a lack of dialogue, and we see that the health minister, already exhausted, is finding it difficult to communicate with healthcare professionals,” he argued, suggesting that the dialogue seems to have been exhausted.
The president of the Municipality of Olhão (PS) further argued a need for a housing policy capable of retaining not only healthcare professionals in the region but also other professionals like teachers, proposing a revival of past solutions such as function houses.
This issue is compounded by the lack of working conditions for these professionals: “Health centers, although they have been transferred to the municipalities and despite their efforts, many of them lack air conditioning, and I know what I’m talking about,” he concluded.
The strike scheduled for Thursday was called by the South Zone Doctors’ Union, the Portuguese Nurses’ Union, and the Union of Public Administration Workers of the South and Autonomous Regions.
