The National Federation of Doctors says six hospitals are already facing emergency closures

Emergency services at hospitals in Barcelos, Caldas da Rainha, Chavez, Guarda, Santarem and Tomar are already facing closure due to doctors’ inability to work overtime in addition to mandatory hours, the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) said on Wednesday.

In a study conducted on the impact of doctors’ refusal protocols, FNAM said in a statement that the situation is serious, leading to closures and restrictions in emergency services, as well as across other hospital services, after more than 2,000 doctors refused to work overtime.

According to FNAM, emergency services are “severely limited and have insufficient teams” in hospitals in Almada, Amadora, Aveiro, Barcelos, Barreiro, Braga, Bragança, Caldas da Rainha, Famalicão, Figueira da Foz, Lamego, Leiria, Lisbon, Matosinhos, Penafiel, Ponte de Lima, Porto, Povoa de Varzim, Portalegre, Portimão, Santa Maria da Feira, Tomar, Torres Vedras, Viana do Castelo, Vila Nova de Gaia, Vila Real and Viseu, as well as Barcelos, Caldas da Rainha, Chaves, Guarda, Santarem and Tomar.

In addition to emergency services, there are spillover effects resulting from the movement of physicians from other services onto emergency service shifts in anesthesiology, cardiology, surgery, gynecology-obstetrics, internal medicine, critical care medicine, orthopedics and pediatrics services.

The federation warns that in this case there are additional difficulties in maternity wards: “Since the emergency departments at the Santa Maria Hospital and the Hospital das Caldas da Rainha are closed for work, there are serious restrictions in Almada, Amador, Aveiro, Barreiro, Caldas , Leiria, Loures, Santarem, Setubal, Vila Franca de Xira.”

He also warns that the situation will become even more difficult in November, since a significant number of doctors submitted their declarations in October, especially in referral hospitals such as the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, the Santo António and São João hospitals in Porto. and the Hospital Center of the University of Coimbra.

FNAM said that most peripheral health facilities and hospitals were the first to feel the effects of the shortage of doctors, a situation that “has now become naked, without the possibility of hiding it through the abuse of overtime.”

“As you can see, there is practically no SNA left for the Ministry of Health of Manuel Pizarro and the government of António Costa, who must bear responsibility for all the consequences of their irresponsibility and incompetence,” he criticizes.

FNAM regrets that the negotiations came to nothing, stating that “it was a fruitless scenario due to the political decision of the ministry of Manuel Pizarro and the government of António Costa, where the only thing left for users and doctors was to deepen.” one-sided, about the reasons that led to the current situation.”

He also expressed solidarity with the Santarem doctors from the internal medicine service, whose specialists and interns in the specialty jointly submitted statements of unwillingness to work more than 150 additional hours per year, “to which they added a “Manifesto of Protest.” courageous”, sent to the board of directors, about the reasons for the fight.

“The National Health Service is now on the verge of collapse from the north to the south of the country, in emergency services and across various specialties, with more than 2,000 doctors refusing to exceed the statutory 150 hours of extra work per year,” FNAM highlights, arguing that “no agreement , capable of securing doctors in the SNS, lies at the heart of a problem that has solutions, and both Manuel Pizarro and António Costa know what it is: 35 hours of work per week, just like other health workers, revision of salary tables, not increasing the overtime limit beyond 150 hours, respecting compensatory rest, respecting collective bargaining agreements developed in the national plan to save medical careers and the National Health Service.”

Doctors in Struggle spokeswoman Susana Costa told Lusa on Tuesday that the National Health Service (SNS) was “collapsing” and that doctors could no longer stop the “collapse” by registering restrictions in the country’s 27 hospitals. , which, in his opinion, “should already be enough to prompt the government to take some action.”