The Health Secretary has admitted the NHS has long been unable to attract maternal and child health specialists.
“Currently, SNS employs only 40% of midwives. It is necessary to reorganize midwifery,” said Ana Paula Martins on Monday on the sidelines of the opening of the Porto Clinical Care Center.
It is the first time a government official has acknowledged the concentration of obstetric services, after the same idea was raised a few days ago by SNS executive director António Gandra d’Almeida.
Ana Paula Martins, however, stressed that the solutions to ensure that hospitals do not have closed services do not simply involve “closure or concentration” and allows for the application of what the technical committee created by the government proposes.
“I accept everything that the technical committee believes should be done for the benefit of mothers and children,” he said, and left assurances that local elections next year would not prevent the measures from being taken.