The health minister acknowledged the “very hard” work of the prehospital emergency technicians who went on an overtime strike this Monday and said he was working to find an adequate compensation model.
The Prehospital Emergency Technician stoppage is aimed at demanding labor rights and career re-examination, with the Prehospital Emergency Technicians Union predicting “major inconvenience” to the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (INEM) service.
The shutdown will last indefinitely and, given that it is only during overtime, there is no room for minimal maintenance, but according to the union, the technicians guarantee the operation of the INEM facilities in the event of an accident or in the event of an accident. exceptional situation.
According to the union, these INEM professionals intend to rethink their careers in line with a Ministry of Health commitment made at the end of 2022 that led to the cancellation of a strike that took place at the time.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the opening of the Loures Community Mental Health Unit, Health Minister Manuel Pizarro said that, as with all professional health care careers, the government is working with unions to make career adjustments that are justified.
“I recognize that the work of prehospital emergency technicians is very hard, very hardworking,” he said, noting that the structure of hospital emergency care is “very developed” compared to what it was a few years ago, requiring “a lot of effort on the part of professionals.”
Therefore, he emphasized: “We are working to find a compensation model that seems adequate.”
The minister also assured that the government is ready to find with “medical unions, as with all others, a platform of understanding that will be useful for the National Health Service.”
“To be good for the National Health Service, it has to be good for professionals. This is a dialogue, it requires compromises on both sides and common ground on both sides,” Manuel Pizarro stressed.
According to the union, the effects of the Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians (TEPH) strike are being felt throughout the country, with ambulances stopped in the metropolitan areas of Porto, Lisbon, Viseu, Coimbra and the Algarve.
Speaking to Lusa in the first assessment of the overtime strike, Union of Prehospital Emergency Technicians (STEPH) President Rui Lazaro said some ambulances closed at midnight and after a shift that was supposed to start at 08:00. , remain closed.
“And so they will remain until the end of the day,” added the official, who said the situation reflects the dissatisfaction of TEPH, who thus want to “send a clear signal to INEM and the government that they intend to see their demands met.”