The Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP) met with Health Minister Ana Paula Martins today to discuss regional emergency services, particularly Obstetrics and Gynecology, while setting aside the Collective Labor Agreement (ACT) proposal presented at the end of July.
“We were expecting that today, being a meeting about human resources, the Minister of Health would finally announce that open competitions for admission in SNS health institutions and competitions for access to different career categories would be launched, in a perspective of valuing professionals and allowing their professional development. That was not on the table,” stated SEP national leader Guadalupe Simões to Lusa.
The union reported that the administration has yet to announce any competitions for admission and access to career categories.
“The Ministry of Health continues to not respond to the need for nurse admissions and the opening of competitions that would allow those who are already nurses to access the respective category, considering that this year, no institution opened a competition for this purpose,” Simões lamented.
The SEP has called a national strike for Friday with a concentration scheduled for 11:00 AM in front of the Ministry of Health in Lisbon, protesting against the ACT proposal presented by the government.
Regarding regional emergencies, Simões expressed concern over the lack of concrete measures to increase human resources, fearing that reorganization could lead to the permanent closure of emergency services in several hospitals.
“Therefore, any solution that might be found to overcome existing problems should be temporary. That’s why we view this possibility presented by the Ministry of Health as the beginning of the closure of emergency services in some hospitals, depriving people of access to these services in their areas of residence on a permanent basis,” she considered.
According to Simões, the plan will be formalized in writing in the coming days. The proposal includes a trial period of two years.
“We made a set of observations, (…) there are no trial periods of two years. At most, it could be during a shorter timeframe until the reinforcement of maternal and obstetric emergency services in different institutions in the country where there is currently a shortage,” she added.
