Health Minister expects hospital peaks to ease in January

Health Minister Manuel Pizarro on Wednesday estimated that the situation with waiting times in hospitals, especially in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, will only improve next week, on the first of January.

“I hope that the situation will begin to ease in the first week of January, but this is something we must evaluate day by day,” Manuel Pizarro told reporters this Wednesday at the Casa da Música in Porto, on the sidelines of the awarding of the Insignia to Ricardo Jorge.

According to the government official, “usually such exacerbations of respiratory infections occur over the course of two to three weeks,” and “since mid-December, the situation gradually worsened for adults,” after the peak incidence of children recorded in November.

For a minister who contributed to service peaks that led, for example, to a maximum waiting time of 18 hours at the Amadora Sintra hospital, “it is not surprising that Lisbon and Vale do Tejo are the region of the country where we have more difficulties with family doctors” .

Manuel Pizarro admitted that the situation is negative and “does not leave him completely calm,” but stressed that “there are other hospitals in the region that have managed to provide a good response.”

The minister once again called on people to use all available means, including clinics and the SNS 24 line, before going to the hospital.

Manuel Pizarro also rejected the “alarmist speech” regarding the situation in the emergency department.

“We have difficulties. These difficulties are common at this time of year, which does not make them any more acceptable, but they are common and we will overcome these difficulties, as always, with great effort, with the help of the NHS network. “, it was assumed.