At the São João Hospital in Porto, Joana Bordalo e Sá announced that adherence numbers for the strike coinciding with a general Public Administration strike will be provided by late morning. She mentioned that the protest’s impact would be more pronounced in consultations and operating rooms, particularly affecting scheduled surgeries.
She assured that minimum services would be “scrupulously fulfilled.”
Speaking to journalists, the FNAM leader reiterated the call for the resignation of Health Minister Ana Paula Martins, accusing the government led by Luís Montenegro of “failing to make any difference.”
“We are witnessing the destruction of the National Health Service,” she commented, “because there is no investment in human resources, whether for doctors still in the NHS or the younger doctors we’re training but who see no future prospects.”
She added, “There’s no perspective of career advancement, and that’s why we are striking today. It’s about career recognition but, above all, defending public service, our NHS.”
Bordalo e Sá highlighted issues in obstetrics, with births occurring in streets and ambulances, illustrating “the destabilization within the National Health Service, which will worsen with Minister Ana Paula Martins’ plan to create regional emergency services.”
“A regional emergency service differs from a metropolitan one. Here in Porto, the metropolitan emergency covers hospitals only a few kilometers apart. A regional emergency doesn’t function that way,” she stated.
In her view, the health minister intends to “forcefully mobilize doctors to cover these emergency services, which is unworkable for doctors under the collective agreements of the National Federation of Doctors, as they cannot be relocated for work beyond their municipality.”
“This forced mobilization policy does not serve doctors, nor the population,” she emphasized.
She stated that the government of Luís Montenegro is effectively telling the population, regarding the obstetrics regional emergency, that they will be left without nearby services. Pregnant women and babies will have to travel “kilometers and kilometers” to receive care.
She presented the situation in the Setúbal peninsula as an example, serving nearly a million people. With the closure of Barreiro and Setúbal obstetrics emergencies, pregnant women and babies will travel “dozens if not hundreds of kilometers” to give birth in Almada, where even emergency services cannot guarantee round-the-clock operations.
“Often, pregnant women, babies, must be redirected to Lisbon. This further highlights the disinvestment in the National Health Service, and that’s why we’re also here today,” she said.
Joana Bordalo e Sá informed journalists about an online negotiation scheduled between FNAM and the Ministry of Health today afternoon to “likely present the final versions of regional emergency service legislation and high-performance gynecology centers,” of which she only knows “some excerpts showcasing this forced mobility.”
“We have no meeting scheduled to negotiate working conditions through our collective bargaining agreement revisions. We’ve submitted these proposals, but they don’t want to negotiate with doctors, that’s become clear,” she added.
“There is no dialogue. This health minister is not engaged with doctors. Instead, she wants to impose a solution that won’t suit doctors or the population. Likely, even more doctors will leave the NHS,” she predicted.
Regarding the meeting set for 15:15 today, the FNAM leader assumed the outcome would be “the same imposition, not a true dialogue, with genuine negotiation that offers effective solutions for doctors and the population.”
“The National Federation of Doctors keeps solutions on the table, ready for dialogue so our solutions can make a difference, ensuring services for pregnant women, babies, children, seniors, for the whole population, because our National Health Service should be accessible, public, universal, and a democracy guarantor,” she affirmed.
For this reason, “we continue to assert that Luís Montenegro must undoubtedly replace the Health Ministry leadership,” she said.
FNAM has already called for Ana Paula Martins’ resignation in summer 2024, maintaining this stance, citing an NHS in disarray while the private sector invests significantly. “They’ve invested a billion euros, knowing the Luís Montenegro government will ensure returns,” added Joana Bordalo e Sá.
