The president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP) warned on Tuesday of “chronic difficulties” for hospitals and regional health authorities (ARS) to pay corporate debts on time, putting them in a “very difficult situation”.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, LBP President António Nuñez said that various departments of the Ministry of Health currently owe firefighters “ranging from 20 to 30 million euros.”
“We have checking accounts that we complained about because there are times when the debt goes up to 30 million, then efforts are made and a significant part of the debt is paid, it drops to 20 or 25 million, and then it rises again.” , described.
Welcoming the efforts of “some hospitals” and the participation in the meetings of the Secretary of State for Health, António Nunez noted, however, that the problem is “chronic” and “more than treasury, it is organizational.”
“The problem of humanitarian associations lies not so much in the debt, but in the unevenness of its payment. This does not allow us to manage the treasury. they can’t pay the firefighters. This is an organizational problem,” he said.
António Nuñez stressed that he was aware that “verification of documents in some cases takes more than a year.”
When asked about the situation made public on Monday in the municipality of Famalicao, in the district of Braga, involving the fire brigades in the region and the Centro Hospitalar do Médio Ave (CHMA), the leader of the League did not want to comment specifically.
It was about the delay in transporting a young man from the Famalican hospital to another department and the lack of response from firefighters due to the fact that the hospital was allegedly not working.
The situation was condemned on social media and led to clarifications from the hospital, which denied it was indebted to the firefighters and reassured that the transfer had been made, but while acknowledging the restrictions, revealed that the tender for patient transfer had been abandoned and was ongoing. , of course a new procedure.
“It’s unbearable, but it’s not the same across the country. There are usually no problems in the Algarve. In Alentejo there is in Evora. Then there is in the Vila Real area, but no longer in the Grand Port, but there is in the Coimbra area [hospitais e IPO]. And the worst of them is the hospital in Castelo Branco,” he listed.
In a conversation with Lusa, António Nunez stressed that debts more than 12 or 14 months overdue put the fire departments involved in these expenses “in distress.”
“The Minister of Health is aware of this and he has been trying to unlock some solutions. But it also depends on the decisions of the Assembly of the Republic. Our perseverance and appeals work, but they do not become routine. This is an organizational problem. This is not a Treasury problem,” he concluded.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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