The sole representative of PAN, Inês de Sousa Real, emphasized the critical need for increased State intervention in the National Health Service (SNS), highlighting that “in critical moments” such as the pandemic, the necessity to value healthcare professionals becomes apparent.
Inês de Sousa Real introduced a draft law proposing the reintegration of medical residency into the medical career, suggesting changes to various legal frameworks.
“Today, PAN proposes the approval of a special regime of rights, not only in terms of parental rights for doctors, nurses, and healthcare technicians, enabling the focus on economic value alongside well-being and other rights, notably the rights to balance work with family life,” she stressed.
Mariana Mortágua, the sole representative of the Left Bloc (BE), stated, “high salaries and career status no longer apply to all doctors.”
“Today, internal doctors are the backbone of the SNS. They work long hours and handle emergency duties, as doctors with longer careers no longer take on emergencies. They are not integrated into the medical career, lacking the same rights and incentives to invest in their careers in the SNS, prompting them to leave for the private sector or not to specialize, leading to them providing temporary services to the SNS, causing structural issues in the SNS itself,” she lamented.
Calling for the valorization of the medical career in a draft law, the BE coordinator emphasized the need to address “a structural problem of the SNS, which is its inability to retain professionals.”
Mário Amorim Lopes from IL criticized the State, stating it “turns access to medical training into a bureaucratic endurance test.”
“We are talking about a process that repeats every year. Every year. Assessing training capacity, obtaining approvals from a dozen and a half entities, as usual, and then publishing the vacancies map. It’s not cutting-edge science or sending a man to the moon; it’s about publishing vacancies. It’s an administrative process. Still, the State is slow,” he stated.
Chega’s representative Cristina Vieira mentioned that parties should abandon the “boogeyman” of fear regarding public-private partnerships, noting that “there must be coherence in negotiating with the private sector to meet the SNS’s needs.”
Paulo Núncio from CDS recalled that “a year ago, the challenges of the SNS started being addressed” with the introduction of an emergency plan and the commitment to valuing the careers of health professionals.
“It’s important to note that when this petition was presented, negotiations between health professionals and the government had just begun,” he stressed.
Susana Correia (PS) stated that regional issues and the context of healthcare provision where professionals work need consideration.
“The Health Minister cannot afford to make mistakes such as leaving processes completely delayed, leaving vacancies unfilled in underserved areas, and, for instance, giving the private sector the privilege of selecting patients to treat,” she remarked.
Francisco Sousa Vieira from PSD reminded that the Government “also committed to reviewing the medical career status, conjointly with those working in the SNS, to reinforce quality medicine for all through the medical act.”
“The results are evident and are emerging each passing day. Between May of last year and now, we have almost 2% more doctors in the SNS,” he indicated.
Paula Santos from PCP accused PS, PSD, CDS, IL, and Chega of never aligning with career valorization and rights strengthening, asserting it is crucial to retain health professionals in the SNS.
The discussion was based on the ‘Manifesto of Medical Disobedience,’ published in August 2023, which rejected the “arrogance” of those who took 15 months to present a 1.6% increase proposal and demanded “good-faith negotiation.”
Gathering over 9,000 signatures, the document was published when Manuel Pizarro (PS) served as Health Minister.
