The closure of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Hospital Dona Estefânia (HDE) in Lisbon represents another challenge facing the National Health Service, as stated by Sindepor in a press release.
This closure results in the loss of all available intensive care slots at the HDE NICU, the surgical intervention of various specialties, and all support means unique to this hospital.
According to the union, it is crucial for the Minister of Health, the Executive Directorate of the SNS, and the public to be fully aware that this closure poses a direct risk to the lives of newborns who depend on highly specialized care.
The closure represents a loss of access to an experienced and specialized team, whose competence is the result of decades of continuous training and advanced clinical practice, the statement adds.
According to Sindepor, the main reason for the closure is the progressive reduction of the medical staff over the past few years without replacement of departing professionals.
Currently, the December medical schedule has more than half of the shifts unfilled.
The union seeks to responsibly alert to the real and imminent danger threatening hospitalized newborns or those needing hospitalization, emphasizing that the focus must remain on the safety, recovery, and well-being of the country’s most vulnerable newborns, the statement emphasizes.
Regarding the nursing staff, the union states that the team maintains a cohesive group of specialist and expert nurses in this area and is working on integrating a group of new nurses who would soon allow the opening of more slots for receiving newborns.
This unit is classified as a level III NICU, being a national reference in neonatal surgery and accommodating nearly half (46%) of newborns with surgical pathology in Portugal. For this reason, it serves as a resource unit for various maternity hospitals and hospitals, including Maternidade Alfredo da Costa, Hospital São Francisco Xavier, Hospital Fernando Fonseca, and Hospital Garcia de Orta, among others, it highlights.
This issue was covered in news released today by Correio da Manhã, which reported that the government is preparing to close the neonatology service of Hospital Dona Estefânia and transfer the health professionals to Maternidade Alfredo da Costa.
The Minister of Health responded to the report, clarifying that this closure is not planned and that an organizational project for the response of the two neonatology services into a single hub is being developed.
