“We have more users without a family doctor, with 1.6 million people currently lacking one, and numerous emergency services closed like never before,” stated Joana Bordalo e Sá in Porto, responding to the Prime Minister’s claim that healthcare “is better.”
The union representative criticized, “The Ministry of Health under Ana Paula Martins has left healthcare worse than it was a year ago, displaying stubbornness and an unwillingness to negotiate.”
“It was a political decision by Ana Paula Martins’ ministry not to secure more doctors for the National Health Service (SNS) because she outright refused to negotiate even with FNAM, the union representing the most doctors in the SNS,” she added.
Looking ahead to the future government, Joana Bordalo e Sá expressed a desire to see “a willingness from any political party and the next government and Ministry of Health to seriously negotiate solutions to bring more doctors to the SNS.”
“The way we are operating, the SNS is not effectively responding, with obstetrics and pediatrics emergency services consistently closed, and we’re not even in summer yet, when the situation could potentially worsen,” she warned.
Commenting on the role of doctors during Monday’s blackout, Joana Bordalo e Sá praised the clinicians and criticized the government: “Once again, despite no central organization, the institutions self-organized, and doctors alongside all healthcare professionals managed to ensure the best care and provide what was necessary for the population.”
“Without this dedication and spirit, the outcome could have been much worse,” she argued.
The union leader made these remarks on Avenida dos Aliados, in Porto, during the May Day demonstrations.
