Marcelo asks the government to “never” forget social institutions

The President of the Republic inaugurated the Interventional Psychiatry Unit at Casa de Saúde da Idanha – Irmãs Hospitaleiras this Thursday, calling on the government to “never” forget social institutions and vowing to remain “on guard”.

During a visit to Casa de Saúde da Idanha, where he was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Margarida Tavares, and the Mayor of Sintra, Basilio Horta, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza visited the specialized neurostimulation departments for dementia and palliative care. before opening a new department of interventional psychiatry.

Then, in a hall full of patients and staff of the institution, the head of state heard a message from the President of the Hospital Sisters, Sister Silvia Moreira, who stressed that her institution is going through “particularly difficult moments of resilience, to the growing gap between the daily rate assumed by the SNA for psychiatric hospitalization, and real costs of the assistance provided.

“We didn’t want to not reach out to the President, believing that his intervention would certainly be fundamental to the implementation of effective measures and policies that ensure and promote organizational resilience, and to consolidate his intervention as a complementary response to people with mental illness,” he said.

Speaking shortly afterwards, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa thanked the Secretary of State for Health Promotion for accompanying him on a visit that was not on the president’s public agenda, stressing that his presence “means that the Portuguese government understands the importance of such institutions like this.

“Your presence, Madam Secretary, means that the government knows how important this is and knows how difficult it is, especially in times of crisis, to guarantee the support these institutions deserve,” he stressed.

Responding to the appeal of Sister Silvia Moreira, the head of state assured that he would be “always on the alert” regarding the situation of these institutions.

“They count on the fact that the President of the Republic, together with the Government and municipalities, will constantly remind them: “Look how the cost of living is rising, look how the cost of electricity and gas is rising (…), everything is impossible, the ideal is impossible, but it must be do to improve conditions. Don’t forget,” he assured.

In front of an audience full of employees and patients of the Casa de Saúde da Idanha, the president defended that “the state by itself, even the municipalities by themselves, cannot” guarantee “access to health care, education, to social solidarity, to support” so many thousands of Portuguese.”

“You need to be close, and to be close means to be close to people: only these institutions can be close. next to people,” he defended.

Thus, after thanking the staff for the work they are doing, Marcelo promised that when his term expired – “in less than three and a half years” – he would “provide a little help” at the Casa de Saúde da Idanha palliative care unit.

“In a few years, in a few years, I will be here more than once. I’ll come here to help the hospital sisters. I can’t be a hospital sister because that’s not my calling, you know, I’ll almost be a hospital brother. And now I will come, which is a way to thank you, ”he promised to the thunderous applause of the audience.

Previously, while visiting the dementia neurostimulation and palliative care departments, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa exchanged words, hugged and kissed several patients and assistants, and observed and experienced some of the therapeutic games that are used to stimulate people with dementia.

In one of these games, which consisted of destroying autumn leaves with a virtual hand, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa joked when an assistant told him that he could only destroy autumn leaves and not other objects appearing in the image.

“I cannot destroy everything, otherwise I destroy the system: my job is to balance the system. [Aqui] I think I am dissolving the Assembly,” he replied, causing laughter from the people accompanying him.

Later, in front of a slightly older patient – Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, 73 – the President of the Republic told him that he was “better” than he was.

“Do you know why? Because he wasn’t involved in politics,” he said, drawing laughter again.