The chairman of the board of directors of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon has initiated four investigative procedures against four dermatologists following internal audits concerning additional surgeries.
Carlos Martins has demanded expedited conclusions within 24 hours after discovering on Wednesday that at least four dermatologists prescribed medication against established rules, and one lacked mandatory authorization from the Pharmacy Council.
The inquiries are set to conclude tomorrow, Friday, with enough documentary evidence to proceed with four disciplinary processes.
The Notícias ao Minuto has reached out to the Local Health Unit of Santa Maria (ULSS) for confirmation of the information and is awaiting a response.
This development follows the resignation of Paulo Filipe, head of the Dermatology unit at Hospital de Santa Maria, after being confronted with preliminary results from the internal audits ordered by the board concerning additional surgeries.
A hospital source mentioned that on Monday night, Carlos Martins met with Paulo Filipe to discuss preliminary findings from internal audit reports conducted following reports by TVI/CNN on excessive spending by dermatologists at the hospital.
Confronted with this preliminary data, the head of the Dermatology unit offered his resignation, which was accepted by the chairman of the board.
Paulo Filipe tendered his resignation late yesterday after seeing preliminary results from the internal report commissioned by the chairman of the board related to additional surgeries.
Natacha Nunes Costa with Lusa | 09:38 – 24/06/2025
What’s at stake?
A TVI/CNN Portugal report revealed at the end of May that a dermatologist at Hospital Santa Maria earned over 51,000 euros in a single day of extra work under the Integrated System for Surgical Waiting List Management (SIGIC), allowing surgeries outside regular hours to reduce wait lists. This amount was part of a total of 400,000 euros paid to the doctor Miguel Alpalhão for 10 days of additional work throughout 2024, averaging 40,000 euros per Saturday.
Recently, new information has emerged indicating that a dermatologist was reportedly abroad in Italy while appearing as the responsible party for a surgery in the system.
Following the report in May, the chairman of the board ordered five internal audits involving Dermatology and suspended additional Dermatology surgeries.
In a response to Lusa, ULSSM noted that a new contract model for additional production in Dermatology is being developed.
Last year, when the current administration took office in February 2024 and identified high payments primarily in Dermatology, it was decided that all surgeries would be paid at the lowest severity (severity/complexity) value, with others requiring proper justification and authorization.
In November last year, upon recognizing high payouts, two internal audits were launched, which found no irregular actions.
[News updated at 09:50]
