
The warning from the Independent Doctors’ Union (SIM) follows a reported case involving a pregnant woman at 31 weeks with a high-risk condition, who lost her baby after being transferred to a hospital over an hour away from her residence.
In a statement sent to the Lusa news agency, SIM expressed regret over the “ongoing fragilities in the Lisbon region regarding Gynecology and Obstetrics, particularly concerning quick and safe access to specialized emergency services, which are crucial in high-risk situations.”
The union stated it has been “constructively and responsibly” proposing measures to mitigate these shortcomings and ensure effective team expansion, specifically “enhancing planning and coordination among institutions,” to prevent patients from enduring lengthy journeys or wait times that compromise clinical safety.
“If the solution involves metropolitan emergency services, they should receive increased financial incentives and working conditions that retain doctors in emergency teams, ensuring the necessary experience and stability,” they also advocated.
The union emphasized the need to ensure equitable pay for “in-house” doctors compared to significantly higher fees for external providers, and to establish mechanisms for voluntary doctor mobility to temporarily bolster struggling services, with appropriate compensation ensuring professionals’ safety.
“Revising the current regime of vacancies identified as lacking, proposing a transition to a model based on needy services,” was another suggestion, with the argument that, in this model, a service would be deemed needy until achieving a defined percentage of its requirements, with the doctors who work there appropriately valued.
The union argued this approach would create “real incentives” for retaining doctors in areas and services with higher needs, acknowledging that needs vary significantly across specialties, hospitals, and regions.
“For exceptional situations, exceptional, non-coercive but positive and constructive responses are necessary to secure not only the present but also the future,” they advocated.
RTP reported that the pregnant woman from Barreiro attempted to contact the Saúde 24 line but was unsuccessful and ended up calling 112, activating the local firefighters.
She was eventually transported to Cascais because the emergency services at Hospital S. Bernardo in Setúbal, which should have been open, were closed due to overcrowding, a claim denied by the Ministry of Health (MS).
“Contrary to news reports, it is not true that assistance was denied to the pregnant woman due to the closure of obstetrics emergency services in the Setúbal Peninsula,” the MS stated in a release, adding that “the patient received specialized care from a doctor” of the Emergency Medical and Resuscitation Vehicle during the transfer from Barreiro to Cascais Hospital.
According to the Ministry, given the preterm nature of the 31-week pregnancy, it was necessary to transport the patient to a hospital with specialized perinatal support (neonatology).
This was the second case in a matter of days involving a pregnant woman who lost her baby after seeking urgent medical attention.