“We have difficulties in all emergency departments. The most visible part is in the maternity area, and we have solutions, some of which need to be short-term. This calamity of human resource shortages, fundamentally doctors, needs immediate solutions. But we must have medium and long-term measures to alleviate difficulties and increase the NHS’s response capacity,” said Carlos Cortes in a telephone interview.
Commenting on the announcements made by the NHS executive director, who, in an interview on Wednesday, admitted to permanently concentrating obstetrics and pediatric emergencies in the Lisbon region, Carlos Cortes considered that, at this moment, the concentration of resources is inevitable.
António Gandra D’Almeida admitted to revisiting the previous executive management’s plan and trying to enhance the obstetrics and pediatrics emergency network in the Lisbon region, but spoke of concentration if the new commission created to study this area proposes this solution to him.
“The short-term measures were announced, and no others are envisioned for now to quickly resolve the maternity issue, except for the concentration of resources. The concentration of resources is very important because it allows maintaining a quality response with safety,” reacted the president of the Medical Association.
Carlos Cortes argued that the pre-hospital emergency system “must be extremely well-articulated with the emergencies that will remain open.”
“The Medical Association views favorably that, from a technical point of view, there is an intention to maintain the quality and safety of everyone – professionals and pregnant women – but in parallel, we should already move forward with measures that can enable the NHS to hire more doctors, more specialist doctors, more obstetricians and gynecologists, anesthesiologists, neonatology doctors,” he said.
But for the president, it is “very important not to forget that the country must have total coverage for all people.”
“And in gynecology and obstetrics, the response is fundamental for pregnant women,” he stressed.
Still on possible closures, Carlos Cortes admitted that this is not an easy decision because it generates a lot of pressure.
“Emergency issues are local issues, and we are on the eve [referring to next year’s local elections] of processes for local authorities. These measures are difficult, but they are necessary and courageous. The Medical Association has called for a broad political consensus for the NHS. The NHS cannot be permanently in a kind of arena of conflict and political combat. The NHS must be on a platform of consensus, union, and pact,” he argued.
The president wants to see, for these “difficult changes to succeed,” a “real involvement of all parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic.”
“With each change of government – or even minister – there is a new vision for health, and previously implemented measures disappear. The course that the NHS follows is a zigzag course with changes that do not favor decision-making. A response is needed for the moment,” he concluded.
