“The government needs to hire enough doctors, nurses, and technicians so that the three emergency departments in the Setúbal Peninsula, Barreiro, and Almada, operate fully. It’s not about finding excuses or pretexts to achieve their main goal, which is to close the three existing emergency departments in the peninsula and transform them into just one. This is not progress,” criticized Paulo Raimundo, speaking to Lusa at the headquarters of the CGTP-IN in Lisbon.
The communist leader was responding to today’s announcement by Health Minister Ana Paula Martins in parliament about creating a short-term regional obstetrics emergency unit in the Setúbal Peninsula, with Garcia de Orta Hospital in Almada operating continuously and Setúbal Hospital receiving cases referred by SNS 24 and INEM.
Raimundo argued that the minister is presenting “as progress” something that represents “a significant setback” and accused Ana Paula Martins of making promises “that were never intended to be fulfilled.”
“Do not offer apparent solutions to impose a setback. There are three obstetric emergencies, Setúbal, Barreiro, and Almada, which need to have the conditions to operate because they are all necessary,” he emphasized.
During the parliamentary Health committee, the minister explained that for this to happen, it is necessary to negotiate with unions and talk to the Medical and Nursing Orders, given that the government already has the necessary legislation prepared.
On Saturday night, the government announced in a statement that the Obstetrics and Gynecology emergencies at Garcia de Orta Hospital in Almada were closed due to a lack of doctors, with this being the only hospital on the south bank providing the service last weekend.
