The Chega and PS parties today called for political consequences following the conclusion of the IGAS report, which stated that the death of a man during the INEM strike in November 2024 could have been avoided.
Speaking to journalists after meeting with the Government in parliament to set the date for the upcoming local elections, Chega’s parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, argued that Health Minister Ana Paula Martins “cannot continue in her position” and called it a mistake to have kept her in the administration after the last legislative elections.
“It’s not enough for the Health Minister to come to parliament and say ‘I take responsibility’. But what does that responsibility entail? The responsibility was to offer her resignation and leave this Government. In fact, she should never have entered this Government; we said this from the very beginning,” he added.
The discussion centers around IGAS’s conclusion that the death of a man in November 2024 during the INEM strike could have been avoided if he had received timely and reasonable medical assistance.
“It was concluded that the patient’s death could have been prevented if assistance had been provided promptly and reasonably, enabling the victim’s evacuation via a Coronary Greenway to one of the nearest hospitals, where he could have undergone coronary angioplasty in one of the respective Hemodynamic Units,” stated the General Inspection of Health Activities (IGAS) in a communiqué released this Wednesday.
Pedro Delgado Alves from PS stressed that the Government cannot address this issue “without any consequence” politically and administratively, expressing surprise that the executive “has yet to comment or explain anything to the citizens regarding this failure” and questioned if “political consequences will be drawn.”
Delgado Alves queried Prime Minister Luís Montenegro on whether, given the “significant failure in the management of the Ministry of Health” detected, Ana Paula Martins will remain as the Health Minister.
The socialist further mentioned that the party would provide a more detailed statement on the matter later, after “completing the reading and analysis of the report”.
Meanwhile, the PCP, through its parliamentary leader Paula Santos, argues that “political responsibilities” must be acknowledged in this process, particularly since resources needed by INEM were not guaranteed.
“This cannot happen; there must be the necessary workers to promptly ensure assistance to populations and, indeed, the operability of emergency resources,” she emphasized.
This incident traces back to November 4, 2024, when two strikes occurred simultaneously — one by pre-hospital emergency technicians on overtime hours and another by the public administration.
