A petition drawing attention to the problems faced by pharmacists working in public institutions and asserting that the profession is valued and working conditions are improved, with almost 10,000 signatures, delivered this Wednesday to the Assembly of the Republic.
The petition “For the recognition and dignity of pharmacists in protecting and strengthening the SNA” was initiated by a group of citizens who will deliver today [esta quarta-feira] Joana Russo, one of those in charge of organizing the public petition, told the Lusa news agency in the afternoon at an audience with the vice-president of the Assembly of the Republic, Adao e Silva.
In the document, the applicants claim that this action is aimed at “drawing attention to significant problems that affect pharmacists working in national and regional government institutions, and which require urgent solutions.”
Joana Russo, a pharmacist, said the petition, which has received about 10,000 signatures (out of 7,500 already eligible for discussion in the Assembly of the Republic), aims to draw attention to “the way these pharmacists have been treated by view of trade and evaluation [da carreira]implementation of pharmaceutical residency [internato]”and for “some injustices” related to the fact that “there has not been an update of the reward table for 24 years.”
“This situation, and very well, has already been considered for other professions, and pharmacists have suffered from this non-review. [da tabela remuneratória]”Given that we have a very extensive, very complete scientific background that is ultimately not valued,” he stressed.
The signatories of the document state that “pharmacists are discriminated against in comparison with other medical professionals with whom they cooperate daily in their hospital life, because they do not have fair recognition of the dignity and value of their professional work.”
As concerns, in addition to the non-review and updating of the remuneration table, they also note the incomplete accounting of public health service experience for promotion and career development purposes, both for pharmacists, individual labor contract, and also for those who work under contracted in public positions, 80% of whom are in their early careers, many with 20 or 30 years of experience.
“Insufficient number of pharmacists in accordance with the needs and complexity of the activities carried out, which jeopardizes the quality of services provided, safety in the drug circuit and adequate access of the population to healthcare”, instability in terms of salary and contract typology, as well as non-recognition of specialist titles awarded Order of pharmacists in order to integrate into the public pharmaceutical career, are other issues indicated in the document.
The applicants call on the deputies “for the most careful attention and the speedy resolution of the identified points” of the document.
“The continuation of the described injustice harms not only pharmacists who perform functions in national and regional institutions controlled by the public administration, but also the quality of services provided to users of the public health service,” they conclude.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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