Doctors’ unions and the health secretary will meet again on Tuesday after another round of talks to restore normal functioning of the NHS was suspended.
“At the moment the meeting is suspended. We were unable to reach an agreement; we had to submit tomorrow a counter-offer written during the day. [terça-feira] and we will resume here on Tuesday at 14:30 in the afternoon,” the president of the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) said at about 2:00 a.m., after a nine-hour meeting, on CNN Portugal. TV channel.
Joana Bordalo i Sá referred to the government’s “commitment” to reinstate the 35-hour work week for all doctors who wish it, and the 12-hour work week in emergency services.
“We are also still missing the issue of salary scale, which is also very important for it to be updated in a decent and fair manner for all doctors,” said the person in charge.
The trade unions’ counter-proposal, submitted to the supervisory body, provides for a pass-through wage increase of 30%.
The Independent Union of Doctors (IMU) told reporters that “the fundamental thing is missing,” that is, “creating the conditions for a reasonable agreement.”
“The aspect related to doctors’ salaries is in the hands of the government, which, as I said, has suffered from erosion of 22% in recent years,” stressed SIM Secretary General Jorge Roque da Cunha.
“The government in practice is proposing to increase the base salary by about 5%, and this is actually one of the serious restrictions on reaching an agreement, since inflation itself this year is about 5.5% in addition to the 20 level. % of accumulated inflation. Naturally, the fact that there are several regimes, several systems, can somehow overcome and mitigate this need, which is the central question at the moment: does a decent basic salary allow people to remain in the National Service? Health [SNS]”, continued.
Regarding the basic salary, the Minister of Health noted that “the solution must be found in its balance.”
“This dialogue is not yet completed, we have scheduled a new meeting for next Tuesday and I do not want to give any details because they must be decided at the negotiating table,” said Manuel Pizarro, stressing that it was a “very positive” meeting. in which there has been “tremendous convergence” despite the persistence of “some differences that need to be resolved.”
Regarding the restoration of the 35-hour work schedule for all doctors, Pizarro emphasized that “the agreement will be made globally”: “This was one of the very difficult topics of these negotiations: how we could at the same time achieve a reduction in working hours and ensure that so that the SNA does not lose its efficiency.”
Negotiations between the Ministry of Health, SIM and FNAM began in 2022, but the lack of an agreement has intensified doctors’ struggle with strikes and claims to justify overtime work beyond the mandatory 150 hours a year, leading to restrictions and closures of health facilities. emergency services in hospitals across the country.
The situation prompted SNS chief executive Fernando Araujo to warn that unless doctors reach an agreement with the government, November could be the worst month in SNS’s 44 years of existence.