The Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS) released a statement on Wednesday following comments made by the chairman of the Medical Association, Carlos Cortes, regarding a news report about budget cuts in hospitals. The DE-SNS deemed these claims as “generally false” and exhibiting a “less than urban style”.
The statement reads, “Mr. Dr. Carlos Cortes made a series of declarations to Lusa, allegedly based on an article published today in another national daily press outlet concerning instructions purportedly given by the Executive Director of the SNS to hospitals during a meeting with their officials.”
It further adds: “Regarding the internal meetings of the SNS, the Executive Director does not make any public comments but clarifies that the meeting in question is the SNS Managers’ Assembly, which gathers the top leaders of SNS institutions, not a meeting with hospital administrators”.
Addressing “the statements made” by the chairman of the Medical Association, Carlos Cortes, it states, “aside from the less urban style used, they are generally false as they stem from the interpretation of an inaccurate journalistic article, without any concern for public clarification or the defense of the SNS”.
The message continues: “If not for the apparent ignorance in the statements made, particularly regarding the organization of the SNS and the competencies of the Executive Directorate, and the content of the discussion in the aforementioned Managers’ Assembly, they could be considered offensive”.
Lastly, the DE-SNS expresses regret over the “populism and demagoguery used”, emphasizing its “commitment to fulfilling its mission of coordinating the National Health Service (SNS), in collaboration with all those acting in good faith and in support of SNS needs, respecting health policy, and defending the interests of citizens”.
What did the chairman of the Medical Association say?
The chairman of the Medical Association classified, on Wednesday, the instruction from the SNS executive director for hospitals to cut expenses in 2026 as “deeply regrettable and miserable”, warning that the measure could harm patients and worsen waitlists.
“The person who should be defending the National Health Service ends up playing this regrettable role, being willing to jeopardize SNS’s response, the healthcare response, due to budgetary cuts and blind budget cuts that will have to be made in 2026,” said the chairman of the Medical Association to the Lusa agency.
Carlos Cortes was reacting to a news report from Público, indicating that the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service, led by Álvaro Almeida, instructed hospitals to cut expenses, even if it means slowing down the increasing rate of surgeries, consultations, and other healthcare services.
Carlos Cortes mentioned that the Medical Association has already received “some concerns” from management boards due to this instruction from the SNS Executive Director, considering his stance “deeply regrettable and miserable”.
“If the initial indication is to harm healthcare, then we are starting with a fundamentally wrong principle, especially from someone who should be the first to defend patient access to the National Health Service, not proposing sacrificing these patients as an option,” he emphasized.
The chairman lamented that the SNS executive director engages in “this profoundly harmful role” with an objective that is “an impossible mission of saving, cutting even more, even if it harms patients and increases waiting lists”.
In his view, it is an untimely measure at a “very difficult” moment for the SNS, which is experiencing “great difficulties in various areas”, particularly in waitlists, which have been increasing in areas like consultations, surgeries, and oncology.
The Medical Association classified today as “deeply regrettable and miserable” the instruction from the SNS executive director to hospitals to cut expenses in 2026, warning that the measure could harm patients and worsen waiting lists.
[Updated at 19:23]
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