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Just over half of emergency rooms to be fully operational next week

Just over half of emergency rooms to be fully operational next week

Hospital Beatriz Ângelo

Around half of the emergency units will be fully operational by the last week of this year, announced the executive board of the National Health Service, which predicts a “general normalization” of these services from January.

“During the last week of 2023, 45 units will be fully operational (54%),” says the reorganization plan for the NHS emergency services network for the period between 24 and 30 December.

According to the executive board led by Fernando Araújo, the SNS emergency services are distributed across 83 points throughout the country and have, despite the limitations registered, demonstrated “a capacity for articulation and support, guaranteeing safety and quality in the provision of health care, in a planned, organized manner, and ensuring the necessary predictability”.

The document recognizes that the Christmas period “is traditionally characterized by additional limitations” in the emergency room, due to the unavailability of professionals, this year also due to their refusal to work more than the 150 hours of overtime per year provided for by law, but “especially due to the lack of commitment and responsibility on the part of service providers”.

“With the start of next year and the renewed availability of professionals to work overtime, a general normalization of the functioning of emergency services is expected,” says the SNS executive board.

The resolution also recognizes that the pressure of respiratory infections, due to their seasonality and the lower temperatures that are occurring, brings challenges in terms of acute illness, with an impact not only on emergency services, but also on hospital admissions.

“There have been peaks in demand, which from time to time necessarily result in longer waiting times, and these are known, but in comparative terms with previous years, once again this week, when compared with the same week in 2022, these have been lower,” he said.

The decision stresses that users should, whenever possible, in the event of an acute illness, call SNS24 in advance and comply with the instructions they receive. In urgent or emergency situations, they should call 112, which will forward the call to INEM.

“The evaluation of the functioning of the emergency services by the SNS executive board will continue to be weekly and will be adapted according to the analysis carried out with the various hospital institutions, in order to ensure the predictability of the system and thus contribute to safety and quality in the provision of care,” the document states.

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