Nurses’ manifesto calls for higher pay and more money for the NHS

The Union of Nurses of Portugal (SEP), in a manifesto addressed to political parties published this Thursday, demands higher wages, better access to pensions, an end to instability and increased funding for the National Health Service (SNS).

In a document published just over a month before snap legislative elections, the AKP highlights that nurses’ salaries are “extremely low” and that social media professionals have seen “a decline in income of approximately 20%” between 2009 and 2023.

In this context, the union is demanding “improved pay scales, including a regime of exceptional dedication” in the public sector.

For nurses working in the private and social sectors, the PSR requires a 35-hour work week, as well as salary and career development.

The list of demands includes a special regime to “guarantee better retirement conditions”, regularization of precarious employment situations, hiring more nurses on permanent contracts and an end to the “persistent underfunding” of the SNS.

“One of the biggest challenges facing social care agencies, as well as the private and social sectors, is the difficulty of retaining and attracting health workers, especially nurses,” the manifesto highlights, noting that professionals work in “overcrowded services.” , during “uncomfortable working hours.” , are subjected to “various forms of violence” and receive salaries that “do not reflect their increasing responsibility.”

In terms of health care delivery, SRP advocates for multidisciplinary teams in health centers, namely nurses, doctors, psychologists, dieticians, pharmacists, social workers, physical therapists, dentists and oral hygienists, who “develop individualized plans of care for individuals and families.”

Portugal will go to the polls on March 10 after Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned last November after his name was implicated in a judicial investigation into the lithium and hydrogen business.