The Portuguese Medical Association expects the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, to listen to it when drawing up the emergency health plan that the government wants to have completed in six months.
“Unless you want to make the mistakes of the past, in which the Order of Doctors has not been heard in any of the major matters that have been decided, on the one hand, by the Ministry of Health, on the other, by the Executive Board of the SNS [National Health Service],” said the president, Carlos Cortes.
Speaking to Lusa, he said he hoped that the path to be taken by the new government would be “one of inclusion and dialog”.
“I don’t see any other possibility than listening to those who are on the ground, who work day-to-day, who know the problems and have solutions to present. The Portuguese Medical Association is completely available and its intention is obviously to collaborate with the new Minister of Health,” he stressed.
During the election campaign, the current prime minister, Social Democrat Luís Montenegro, pledged to present an emergency plan for the NHS within the first 60 days of the new government, to be implemented by the end of 2025.
Reducing the time it takes to book family health appointments, with teleconsultation as an alternative, and guaranteeing a nurse and family doctor, also using the private and social sectors, are some of the goals of this plan.
It also envisages speedy service in primary care (in the case of acute illnesses) or extending the ‘voucher’ system, which already exists in surgery, to the private sector, applying it to specialty consultations when waiting times are exceeded.
