Fernando Araujo admits access to social media is ‘a real problem’ but waiting list will be shortened

The chief executive of the National Health Service (SNS), Fernando Araujo, admitted this Thursday that access to healthcare “is a real problem”, expressing confidence that the number of patients waiting for treatment will fall in the first quarter of 2024.

“Access is a real issue. This is the problem that the Portuguese value most. It has worsened since the pandemic. This is a non-Portuguese problem, it is an international problem,” Fernando Araujo began by mentioning.

The official also said that the problem needs to be addressed with a set of tools, but it is necessary to have a “clear understanding that the problems will not be solved on January 1 or 2.”

“Whoever expects that after taking measures we will get results next month does not understand health,” said the head of the SNS Executive Directorate (DE-SNS).

In Porto, where he participated in the conference “Emergency care in perspective: 20 years of healthcare regulation,” Fernando Araujo, who did not want to talk to journalists on the sidelines, said that “the number of patients awaiting an answer, the large volume of post-Covid disease, it is now stabilizing.” .

“We will definitely see a reduction in the number of patients waiting in the second quarter of 2024,” he added.

The chief executive previously said that a year ago, when he took office, “there were hospitals there with patients waiting.” [por uma consulta] eight years ago.”

“And these weren’t fake patients. These were patients who had been waiting six years for surgery, and the system was quiet. What we are doing is to put an end to these long waiting times,” he assured.

Fernando Araújo also tried to clarify the regulations published this Thursday on the referral of patients to health centers, after in the same panel the researcher and economist Pedro Pita Barros considered that the “test” of the Call Before Saving Lives project, which is underway implementation carried out in Vila do Conde and Povoa de Varzina “has not yet produced visible results.”

“Today two different diplomas were published. There is a global diploma that will be submitted for public discussion, which will allow us to expand this experience in the future. And one more, which will allow the executive management to implement the second stage of the project. precisely in this place, Povoa and Vila do Conde. On January 1st we will not repeat the Vila do Conde and Povoa de Varzim project because this project is not completed. This resolution will give us the opportunity to complete the second phase project.” , said Fernando Araujo.

These statements are in line with the explanations given this morning in Vila Nova de Gaia by Health Minister Manuel Pizarro, who explained that the referral of non-urgent patients to health centers in emergency hospitals will be carried out in stages.

“The goal of the reform we’re doing in the emergency department is to improve care for people, to ensure that people who come to the emergency department because they have a situation that warrants going to the emergency department get treated faster. , protecting their lives (…) and that all other people are also quickly assisted with the appropriate level of care,” explained Manuel Pizarro when asked about this ruling.

In today’s edition, the newspaper Público said the government wants to exclude non-urgent cases from emergency hospital services and reduce excessive demand for these services, for which it has drafted a regulation that gives hospitals the right to refer patients for medical consultations. At the centers, patients were screened on the same or next day using blue or green emergency bracelets.

Since May, a pilot project implemented by DE-SNS has been running at the Vila do Conde/Povua de Varzim hospital.

Fernando Araujo said that “in the first phase, propaganda and a strong communication campaign was carried out at the local level”, involving pharmacies, health centers, hospitals, municipal councils, “about the clear use of the health system.”

“The project cannot be assessed at this stage and in this way because it will not be replicated the way it is now. Now the most critical stage will pass. It was not expected that there would be a significant reduction in cost in the first phase. At the second stage – yes, this is expected,” he said.

Another fact emphasized by the director of DE-SNS is that “in the diploma itself there are clinical pathologies that, even with a blue-green bracelet, with even a slight risk of deterioration, determine that this patient remains in the hospital.”

“We have all the conditions for everything to go well, because [esta resposta] it is built by people on the ground, not in an office,” he concluded.