On Tuesday, the PS announced that it would request urgent hearings with the outgoing INEM president, the health minister and the national defence minister to clarify the “contradictory and contradictory positions” on the purchase of ambulance helicopters.
“Yesterday’s news [segunda-feira] The news that the INEM president has submitted his resignation to the health minister due to disagreements between the institution he leads and the ministry regarding the procedure for acquiring helicopters for emergency medical care can be read in a note sent to an agency to which Lusa had access.
On Monday, Health Minister Ana Paula Martins received Luís Meira after the Health Ministry criticized the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) on Sunday for allowing the deadline for launching the international public call to expire, forcing the introduction of a new direct call adjustment.
“Given the contradictory and contradictory positions of the INEM President and the Minister of Health, and the little information available on the negotiations taking place between the health and national defence sectors, it is urgent, in the public interest, to clarify the truth of the facts and determine responsibility,” the Socialists justify.
For this reason, the PS announced that it would demand “an urgent hearing from the President of INEM, the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Health.”
Throughout the note, the Socialists recall the entire case, reporting on the position of the Ministry of Health on Sunday, which criticized INEM for the lack of a public tender for helicopters, specifying that the institute could have announced a public tender for air transport services for patients based on the Council of Ministers’ decree of 2023, avoiding the extension of direct remuneration.
On the same day, INEM guaranteed that it would “ensure the continuity of the emergency medical helicopter service through a new contract concluded with the current operator, within the amount approved by the previous government in October 2023.”
The Socialists cite a statement by INEM, in which it concludes: “In the absence of any response from the authorities that would allow a new international public tender to be launched, the only alternative to not awarding a new contract by direct award would be to leave the country to rely on this service, which would be unacceptable.”
“Minister Ana Paula Martins, questioned a few weeks ago by the Health Committee, told Parliament that her ministry is negotiating with the Ministry of Defence about an alternative solution to the competition in question,” PS also points out.
The Socialists also remember the recent parliamentary hearings of the Minister of National Defence, in which Nuno Melo declared that “the Portuguese Air Force, with a great sense of responsibility, will provide, and this is also the wish of the Ministry of Health, two helicopters for emergency medical action, in the health sector.”
In response to the above statement, INEM states that “it has never been consulted on the possibility of the Armed Forces intervening in the process of helicopter transport to provide emergency medical assistance, and therefore it remains unknown how or whether this contribution could be made.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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