Doctors president asks hospitals to tell truth about minimum emergency room ratios

This Monday, the president of the Medical Association called on hospital administrators to tell the truth and be transparent, saying there are dozens of complaints that emergency departments are working with teams that do not meet minimum standards.

“I call on NHS executive management (SNS) and all boards to tell the truth and be transparent. When their teams don’t have enough people to respond to the population that is passing it on. Say it publicly. This message concerns the hospital in Viana do Castelo,” said Carlos Cortes.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a working visit to the Santa Luzia Hospital in Viana do Castelo, the President of the Order of Physicians (OM) added that the institution had received “dozens of complaints from all hospitals in the country due to the fact that the minimum commands are not respected.” .

According to Carlos Cortes, “the level of security that hospitals must respond to various requests is not respected,” given that “even more serious is the lack of the principle of transparency.”

“He has [comissão executiva do SNS e conselhos de administração dos hospitais] adequately inform the population about aspects of emergency situations for which adequate response measures are not taken. Ambulance services that have specialized doctors do not meet minimum standards,” he said.

Carlos Cortés defended in these cases the need to implement “the contingency plan that exists for gynecology and obstetrics,” conveying “adequate information to the public so that the population can understand what hospital capabilities should respond to their needs.”

“I appeal to hospitals to speak openly and convey to the population exactly the opportunities that they have to treat different patients, the different situations of patients who turn to emergency services,” he emphasized.

Carlos Cortes also accused the Ministry of Health of “incompetence” and “irresponsibility” for running the Viana do Castelo hospital for months without clinical coordination.

“How is it possible that the Ministry of Health allowed and continues to allow such a situation, which can only be understood in the light of the incompetence and great irresponsibility of the Ministry of Health. Especially when we are going through a period of enormous difficulty, which requires very careful clinical care. There is no clinical leadership in this hospital,” he warned.

Carlos Cortés said that this information was conveyed to him by the doctors of the Santa Luzia Hospital, with whom he met today, ensuring that the medical unit, “like the vast majority of SNS hospitals, is experiencing enormous difficulties that have accumulated in recent years.” of the year.”

“Surgical services, internal medicine services, gynecology and obstetrics faced enormous difficulties in maintaining emergency care schedules, especially on weekends. In these very sensitive areas and absolutely necessary not only for internal medicine and surgical patients, but for any patient who needs a specialty. “As a result, we realized that pediatrics itself, which has so far managed to provide registries, will be difficult, I would even say impossible, to do this from the end of this month,” he said.