The IL leader warned this Wednesday that the healthcare model is “close to collapse”, criticizing the government’s “wrong policies” and relationships with professionals in the sector for putting “political interests” above problem solving.
“There are three fundamental areas in which we must carry out structural reforms, starting from March 10: to create conditions for professionals, to return to the Portuguese the ability to choose the services that suit them, and to restore trust in what political governance is. Ministry of Health and representatives of doctors,” Rui Rocha told reporters following a meeting with the President of the Order of Doctors, Carlos Cortes, which took place in Lisbon.
Reiterating “concerns about the health situation in Portugal,” the IL leader cited the “political behavior” of the Ministry of Health as an example.
“The Ministry of Health has the wrong policy from the start, but it also has the wrong relationship with medical professionals, with their representatives, which is not based on a relationship of trust, but on a relationship in which the political interests of the current leadership in what is the solution to health problems,” – he criticized.
The Liberals’ primary concern is the service currently available to users, which faces many challenges, including the closure of emergency departments, problems with access to healthcare or the absence of a family doctor for one million 600 thousand Portuguese. .
“And this is the first area where the Liberal Initiative is putting forward proposals regarding the future of the National Health Service and the Portuguese people’s access to healthcare. These proposals clearly imply the recognition that the current model is close to collapse and it is therefore necessary that the Portuguese will now have access to all installed capacity, which, depending on their needs, they will be able to use as a public service, a private service or a social health,” he said.
Rui Rocha insisted on the idea advocated by the party that people should choose what “suits them best, depending on their situation, their character and the services that are closest to them.”
“The issue of NHS staff is also a huge concern,” he added.
The Liberal leader said the meeting with the Order of Physicians confirmed difficulties, lack of motivation and cases of “doctors at various stages of their careers deciding to leave the NHS”.
“And this is also a huge problem related to issues such as pay, but also working conditions, the enormous pressure that doctors are often put under, that they are asked to perform functions for which they are not prepared,” he said . said.
Asked about the health issue, which will deserve special attention in the electoral program that they will present in the early elections on March 10, Rui Rocha said that “it will be the chapter of a great development” because the current situation cannot be accepted. .
Rui Rocha was accompanied at this meeting by the head of the list already announced by Lisbon, deputy Bernardo Blanco, “number two” Mariana Leitan, as well as deputy Joan Cordeiro, who has health problems in the current composition.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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