The SDP is calling on the government to pause the implementation of new local health units (ULS), asking the executive to focus on emergency issues rather than “appointing ‘the boys'” to these structures.
“Now is the time to discuss political options and live under the current leadership on government territory. Now is not the time to carry out hasty reforms just to appoint “boys” to some places,” said PSD Vice President Miguel Pinto Luz. at a press conference at the party’s national headquarters on the state of Portugal’s National Health Service.
The SDP “demands that the outgoing government” “immediately suspend the entry into force of the Decree-Law establishing the creation of the ULS,” scheduled for January 1, in order to avoid “adding problems to an already very delicate situation.”
“Stop the bureaucratic fantasies. The new ULS must be suspended. It is imperative that this governing government refocus its efforts and respond to the pressing problems of social media,” he said, arguing that “SNS does not need more entropy, more problems, more confusion.”
Asked whether the PSD would defend the veto of the President of the Republic if the government moved forward, Pinto Luz preferred to leave for now only the challenge to the PS and the executive.
The PSD even linked the dismissal of the chairman of the board of directors of the Santa Maria Hospital, Ana Paula Martins, to this process of “hasty” creation of 31 new ULSs.
“It was the chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, who disagreed with this measure, who declared it impossible to continue operating, leaving the country’s largest hospital with an uncertain future,” he complained.
Pinto Luz believes that the “wrong configuration of the ULS”, which covers central and university hospitals, “does not only affect the ULS itself, but also all referral hospital structures in Portugal.”
The SDP, which had already opposed the extension of the ULS model to the entire country, considered that it would not be several months before the elections that “appropriate reforms” would be implemented in any sector.
“In the middle of a government resignation, with no prior technical preparation and only last-minute political appointments, a new bureaucratic layer in health care emerged, consisting of the Socialist Party,” he charged.
Pinto Luz stressed that “the time has come for the Portuguese population to rethink their vote,” calling on the government to “respect the decision of the Portuguese people in the elections and not impose the ULS and other government bodies full of last-minute leaders.”
“Faced with a harsh winter and a government resignation, it would be expected that the day-to-day management of at least the emergency services would be supported by a clearly articulated and effective contingency plan. None of this happened,” he said. complained.
Pinto Luz reiterated – as the PSD had already criticized – that through the State Budget Law the government had delegated to the executive management of the SNS the ability to make appointments that the outgoing Minister of Health could no longer carry out.
“The government is not concerned with the daily work of ensuring adequate conditions for patients and health workers during this difficult time of Christmas and end-of-year holidays. No. Instead, the government is working to appoint hundreds of ULS directors. “, he insisted.
In September, SNS chief executive Fernando Araujo announced a “major reform” from January 2024 with the creation of 31 ULSs that bring together hospitals and health centers under one institution and management, joining the eight that already exist.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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