Health Minister Manuel Pizarro said this Wednesday that the work in the maternity ward of Santa Maria Hospital (Lisbon) is “really emergency” and cannot be carried out while the service is open.
“There is no way that a delivery room of this size could remain in operation while the work is being carried out,” said the official, who responded to MPs in the parliamentary health commission during a hearing on the SDP’s request. on the closure of delivery blocks in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley region.
Manuel Pizarro said he hoped a “dialogue among professionals” would be possible, referring to the controversy that the restructuring of Santa Maria’s maternity ward has caused, as hospital authorities have already canceled the referral of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine. medicine, which was led by Diogo Aires de Campos.
The OB/GYN Response Plan, drawn up by the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS), stipulates that while the maternity ward at Santa Maria Hospital is closed for work in August and September, services remain concentrated at S. Francisco Xavier Hospital .
This hospital, which has been closed on weekends in rotation since August 1, is now open again seven days a week.
In a conversation with Lusa after the announcement of the dismissal, a Santa Maria health worker explained that the Gynecology and Obstetrics Service specialists have never been against working or collaborating with San Francisco Xavier.
He also said that since he arrived at the department, Diogo Aires de Campos has always pursued the goal of having a new maternity ward and that not just work was planned, but the construction of a new one, and during this construction, the urgency of work and the reception will be carried out in ” factory production”, guaranteeing all conditions for full operation.
In response to a question from MPs, the health secretary said that San Francisco Xavier is undergoing adaptation work in response to an increase in supply and that contracting with private providers will only help to cope with some peak demand.
“We want to bet on the SNS and not give money to the private sector, or more medical professionals will leave the SNS,” the official said when asked why this option has not yet been explored.
In this regard, he also insisted: “Only the civil service guarantees the capillarity of services.”
While acknowledging that ideally all maternity hospitals should be open every day of the year, the Minister of Health insisted that such a rotation option was due to a lack of resources.
He also said that the model that started working six months ago is working well and only two situations have been identified that went wrong.
Deputy Katarina Martins (BE) asked the minister what he thought about the regulation of the General Directorate of Health regarding obstetrics, which was challenged by the Order of Doctors because of the skills of specialized nurses, while the official explained only that “who approves the technical standards of the SRS, and not health minister.”
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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