The leader of the PS accused the government this Friday of a “massive mess” regarding the INEM president, considering that the dismissal of the new person in charge a week after his election “is a mirror of the incompetence” of the executive power.
“We are witnessing a colossal mess in the management of emergencies in Portugal. This creates a sense of insecurity for all of us and is a mirror of the government’s incompetence,” Pedro Nuno Santos told reporters when asked about the appointment of Sergio Dias Janeiro as INEM president after previous candidate Vitor Almeida backed out of his decision to accept the job.
According to the PS leader, “this Minister of Health, this government has already resigned two INEM presidents in a short period of time.”
“And this second INEM president is the choice of the minister, the choice of the government, and in a week he is resigning,” he said.
According to Pedro Nuno Santos, “this is clearly a sign of incompetence on the part of the government,” which worries the Socialists.
“Obviously, all the issues are worrying us, this is an emergency response that is not commensurate with the instability and disorder that it is in at the moment, and so we are watching this situation with great concern,” he explained.
Asked whether the PS would comply with IL and Chega’s demands for an urgent hearing of the case of former INEM president Victor Almeida, the Socialist leader considered it important to find out “what happened, what are the motives for the resignation of a man nominated in less than a week?”
“I can imagine what it would be like if this was a Socialist Party government. It is a monumental mess in an area where this cannot happen, where there should be stability, where there should be security, and so it is clearly a concern and clarification is required,” he said.
The Health Ministry has appointed doctor Sergio Dias Janeiro as INEM president after the previous candidate, Vitor Almeida, cancelled his decision to accept the position, the ministry announced today.
A statement from the Ministry of Health explained that “in contacts with the authorities last week,” anesthesiologist Vitor Almeida “came to the conclusion that the conditions for assuming the position of President of INEM were not met for professional reasons and given the current context of the Institute.”
In a note published today, the Ministry of Health said that, given the resignation of Vitor Almeida, it had decided to appoint doctor Sergio Agostinho Dias Janeiro on a 60-day basis due to a vacancy in the position.
The ministry said it would now announce a competition with the Commission for the Recruitment and Selection of Personnel for Public Administration (CReSAP).
Vitor Almeida was appointed president of INEM on July 4 after Luis Meira resigned from the post over a dispute over the tender for emergency medical helicopters.
Luis Meira resigned on July 1 after trading accusations over competition for air transport services for patients.
The Ministry of Health criticised INEM the day before for allowing the deadline for the international public tender for the purchase of helicopters to expire, forcing the company to issue a new direct contract.
In response, 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.”