The pediatric emergency service at Évora Hospital will operate with a reduced team of two doctors during the night and early hours, from Wednesday to Friday, the hospital department said.
In a statement sent to Lusa, the Hospital Espirito Santo de Évora (HESE) announced that “assistance will only be provided to patients referred by CODU/INEM, Health Line 24 or other doctors.”
This means that in order to receive treatment from the HESE Children’s Emergency Service, from today to Friday, overnight between 9:00 pm and 9:00 am, users must complete a pre-screening.
During the period when staffing in the pediatric emergency department is reduced, the service will “continue to operate to ensure it responds to urgent and emerging situations,” the HSE stressed.
According to the Évora hospital, the reduction of the team that will be on duty in the pediatric emergency department “is caused by statements from doctors that they are unable to work overtime.”
A hospital source contacted by Lusa said that there are usually three doctors providing services, but during these three days, “only two doctors will be on duty at night.”
In a statement issued this Wednesday to inform the public of this urgent change, HESE insists that users contact the health line 24 and the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (INEM) before going to a hospital ward.
“All users are asked to contact Health Line 24 before accessing the pediatric emergency service between 9:00 pm and 9:00 am so that they can be properly referred based on the severity of their clinical condition,” he stressed.
Service during the day, from 9:00 to 21:00, “will remain as usual” until Friday, the HSE emphasized.