The Padre America Hospital in Penafiel closed its pediatric emergency department on Tuesday but reopened its maternity ward on Monday, according to a report from the Centro Hospitalar do Tâmega e Sousa (CHTS).
“Due to the inability of doctors to fill out emergency care schedules, we inform all users of the ChTS that from 00:00 on November 14 [terça-feira]and will be closed until further notice [o serviço de urgência de pediatria]and medical assistance should be sought at the São João Hospital in Porto,” reads the information sent to Lusa.
Another report states that the maternity ward and the emergency obstetrics and gynecology department at Penafiel Hospital have reopened today, a guaranteed situation in terms of doctor availability until Wednesday.
According to CHTS, this situation arose due to the physicians’ “assessment of continued inability to complete emergency duty duty.”
On November 3, dozens of NHS users demonstrated at Penafiel Hospital to protest the closure of emergency services and demand “more accountability” from the government and professionals.
“We intend to alert organizations that we are paying attention. We need more responsibility from everyone, from the government, from professionals and even from the users themselves,” said Margarida Moreira from the association that organized the protest.
Since November 1, Penafiel Hospital has kept its maternity ward and emergency obstetrics and gynecology department “closed to outside access until further notice.”
The decision by Centro Hospitalar do Tâmega e Sousa, based in Penafiel, is due to the “lack of doctors to meet emergency schedules.”
The Penafiel Hospital, together with the hospital in Amarante, Porto district, is part of the Tamega e Sousa Hospital Center (CHTS), responsible for caring for a population of almost 600 thousand living in this territory, representing the second largest emergency hospital. In the north of the country.
On October 3, Penafiel Hospital made a request to “divert patients from external emergency care” because it was unable to assemble the minimum number of general surgery specialists due to doctors’ refusal to work overtime.
On Friday, the Independent Union of Doctors (SIM) announced it would continue its strike against overtime in primary care and called for negotiations to be resumed with the Ministry of Health.
On Saturday, the executive directorate of the SNS noted that more than 30 emergency services of various specialties will work with restrictions until Saturday, recognizing that the situation was caused by the refusal of doctors to work overtime.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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