Parliamentary statements were made by communist deputy Alfredo Maia during a press conference in response to inquiries regarding the resignation of the president of the Amadora-Sintra Local Health Unit.
In his resignation, Carlos Sá, president of the Amadora-Sintra Local Health Unit, cited providing inaccurate information to Health Minister Ana Paula Martins concerning the recent death of a pregnant woman last Friday.
Addressing the incident, deputy Maia asserted that “the PCP does not seek scapegoats” and described the incident as “extremely serious.”
Furthermore, “there are apparent contradictions, including in the manner the minister provided clarifications in parliament last week,” commented Alfredo Maia.
In this case, and regarding the overall situation in the health sector, the PCP “holds the Government, especially the prime minister,” Luís Montenegro, accountable, advocating for “a serious policy change.”
“The events that transpired and are transpiring highlight the fundamental issues plaguing the National Health Service (SNS), which this Government not only fails to address but tends to exacerbate. We are primarily discussing the lack of sufficient professionals to ensure full operation of services,” explained the communist deputy.
Alfredo Maia argued for the need to “invest swiftly and significantly” in the SNS, stating that this is contrary to the current Government’s actions.
Questioned about assigning responsibility for the recent death of the pregnant woman at Amadora-Sintra Hospital, the PCP deputy stated, “Following the determination of the facts, responsibilities must be duly assigned, with appropriate consequences extracted.”
“However, it is crucial to remember that the underlying issue is the disinvestment in the SNS by this and previous governments. This disinvestment is accompanied by a progressive diversion of public resources towards private healthcare businesses,” he argued.
