Doctors’ strike is about 70%; surgeries and appointments have been cancelled across the country

Compliance with the doctors’ strike, which began on Tuesday and will last until Wednesday, is around 70%, with surgeries and appointments cancelled in a number of regions of the country, the president of the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) said.

“The overall picture is about 70% [até às 12h00 desta terça-feira]. There are sites with more traffic and sites with less, but we still lack some data (…). It is a very strong commitment, which is important given the anger that doctors are feeling,” Joana Bordalo i Sa told Lusa.

On Tuesday, Fnam launched a two-day general strike, as well as a shutdown of additional work in primary care until August 31, accusing the care service of “intransigence and inflexibility.”

Fnam’s demands include replacing the normal 35-hour working week and updating the salary scale, integrating intern doctors into the entry-level category of a medical career, and replacing 25 working days of vacation per year and five additional vacation days if taken outside the peak season.

This Tuesday, Fnam has meetings scheduled in Porto, next to the São João Hospital, in Coimbra, at the Geral dos Covoins Hospital, and in Lisbon, in front of the Santa Maria Hospital.

Lusa contacted the Ministry of Health, which is overseen by Ana Paula Martins, but so far they have not responded.

The FNAM has launched a two-day general strike and a shutdown of additional work in primary health care until August 31, accusing the guardianship authorities of “intransigence and inflexibility.”

While ensuring the implementation of minimum services and ensuring that data is still awaited from the Algarve, the islands, Alentejo, Vila Real and other regions, Joana Bordalo e Sá once again accused the Ministry of Health of being responsible for the strike.

“We do not want to get involved in a war of numbers. What is really important and what the Ministry of Health should think about is that every postponed consultation or operation leads to disruption of patients’ lives. The Ministry of Health is responsible, which does not guarantee an increase in the number of doctors in the SNS,” the Fnam president said.

According to the data already collected, in the Central Region, adherence is around 80% in primary care, while in the University Hospitals of Coimbra, the neuropediatrics and anesthesia departments are 100% closed.

At Hospital dos Covões, also in Coimbra, compliance for internal medicine is around 90%. In the north, at the Padre América operating room in Penafiel, “only one room is working,” a union leader said. At São João Hospital in Porto, “the central block is at 100% this morning, the neurosurgical block at 75% and the obstetrics block at 66%.

In Viana do Castelo, the hospital’s central block “has also stopped 100% and is only available for emergency surgeries.” According to Fnam, nine out of 11 wards in the Braga hospital have closed, representing 82% of those who took part in the strike in that department. Meanwhile, in the Porto IPO, “only surgeries classified as emergency are being carried out.”

At the Pedro Espanho Hospital in Matosinhos, adherence to internal medicine treatment is 50%. Further south, at the general hospital block of Hospital dos Capuchos in Lisbon, adherence to treatment is 60%.

Fnam’s demands include replacing the normal 35-hour working week and updating the salary scale, integrating intern doctors into the entry-level category of a medical career, and replacing 25 working days of vacation per year and five additional vacation days if taken outside the peak season.