The Board of Directors has received, to date, nine letters of termination of employment contracts from General Surgery doctors,” the hospital unit announced, after the news was initially reported.
According to a source from the institution, the General Surgery Service at Amadora-Sintra Hospital currently has 18 specialist doctors and 13 specialty interns.
In a response sent to Lusa, the Local Health Unit (ULS) of Amadora-Sintra explained that “the General Surgery Service is functioning fully and normally with all its professionals, and their commitment to the Users and population.”
“The Board of Directors is closely monitoring this situation with the General Surgery Service Management to ensure the best solution, safeguarding the interests of the Institution and the Users we serve,” they emphasized.
The hospital unit also clarified that “the ongoing hiring processes have nothing to do with the return of doctors” specializing in General Surgery who belong to the ULS Amadora-Sintra staff and were working at another hospital.
The case of alleged medical malpractice complaints at Fernando da Fonseca Hospital was reported on January 13, 2023, and involved various situations, with references to patients who “died or were mutilated,” citing information sent to the Medical Association.
On the same day, the hospital announced that investigations into the reported cases would be carried out “to the fullest extent,” ensuring that if there had been an error, it would not be ignored.
According to reports, the cases date back to 2022 and were communicated to the hospital’s clinical management in early October (17 patients) and late November (five situations).
The Medical Association was informed about the suspicions by email.
In the letter sent to the Association, the whistleblowers wrote that the complaint did not focus on any particular doctor, but rather on a systemic situation.
At the time, the Health Regulatory Authority (ERS) announced the opening of an “administrative process to investigate the facts allegedly occurring in the general surgery service of Amadora-Sintra Hospital.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office also initiated an inquiry process.
Later, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation into the complaints concluded that there had been no proven medical malpractice in any of the 18 cases analyzed.
“Apparently there will be no malpractice in the analyzed cases,” said a source linked to the process on January 24, 2023, adding that “a bad decision [among several options] may not be malpractice.”
