Restrictions on breast cancer surgery will have a negative impact

The medical association says the decision to limit surgical treatment for breast cancer at seven local medical facilities will have a negative impact on public access and could jeopardize medical training.

In a conversation with Lusa about the decision of the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS) to stop breast cancer operations in seven medical institutions since April, the president of the Medical Association, Carlos Cortes, expressed regret that the institution she represents was not discussed, and warns of adverse effects at various levels.

“We agree with concentrating resources for greater differentiation, but this should have been explored differently. This needs to be studied, first of all, from the aspect of accessibility. (…) Many of the cases are from hospitals within the country. country, and this is another factor in desertification and the lack of health support for women living in the interior of the country,” said Carlos Cortes.

Moreover, he continued, “there is a problem of differentiation that gets lost in these divisions.”

“Obviously, doctors will not want to go to areas where there is no differentiation, and if there are no more differentiated areas, (…) these places will have difficulty responding to medical interns, so training there will be questioned for the reason” , he explained.

In a discussion on changes to the network of referrals for breast cancer operations, the contents of which were published on Thursday by the newspaper Público, DE-SNS determines that from April 1 only operations for breast cancer can be carried out. at least one hundred operations per year performed by two or more specialized surgeons.

This Friday, in a statement, the Medical Association (OM) reports that this “appropriate scientific and technical decision” surprised the presidents of the specialized schools of general surgery Jorge Paulino, gynecology/obstetrics José Furtado and oncologist. Luis Costa warns of possible difficulties in responding in departments that will receive patients from those that no longer perform operations.

“Although the document is not known, the NM warns of the need to guarantee the capacity of the hospital departments where these patients will be sent to receive and treat them, many of which are currently experiencing difficulties with a timely response in this area,” he said.

At the same time, he emphasizes, “the treatment of cancer patients is not limited to surgical intervention. There is a complex of dispensary consultations, therapeutic and diagnostic techniques that must be taken into account.”

MM also believes that the decision contributes to reduced accessibility, especially in more peripheral areas “where access to differentiated care is already limited” and “further penalizes these populations by forcing patients to make unnecessary trips.”

While emphasizing that this is a surprising decision “in a field in which Portugal is an international example thanks to the good results obtained,” Carlos Cortés also highlights the “curious aspect” of the DE-SNS decision: “There are three hospitals in the central area. regions that are close to each other – Castelo Branco, Guarda and Covilhã – and there may be another solution.”

“If there are few operations, [a opção devia ser] to concentrate the activities of the three hospitals in one of the three and not force them to do what this document does, that is, to put even more pressure on, for example, the hospitals in Coimbra,” the president said.

In a note published this Friday, the OM also highlights that some of these ULSs “already have limitations in a number of services and difficulties in retaining physicians,” a situation that he says could worsen due to this decision.

A meeting of the SNS Executive Directorate, chaired by Fernando Araujo, said that the local health centers of Oeste, Cova da Beira, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Baixo Mondego, Barcelos/Esposende and Nordeste will stop performing these operations.