We have a huge concern about the closure of the maternity ward in Abrantes. As you know, the Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo [Médio Tejo Local Health Unit] plays a very important role in the region. Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Santarém, and the entire Médio Tejo area depend heavily on the functioning of the Abrantes maternity ward, and this leaves us worried. We hope that these difficulties will be quickly overcome,” said Manuel Valamatos in a statement.
According to the mayor, “sooner or later,” governmental measures “capable of resolving these situations” will have to be taken.
Recalling that the service coverage area is vast, the president of the Intermunicipal Community of Médio Tejo added that the Abrantes City Council has been providing support “to mitigate health issues,” but argued that “municipal measures will not solve this specific situation.”
Manuel José Soares, representative of the Médio Tejo Health Users Commission, emphasized that the closure of the emergency services is related to a series of factors.
“There are several organizational and human resource issues affecting Abrantes that deserve a more detailed analysis, namely the composition of obstetric emergency teams. The need for the presence of this or that doctor is not taken as rigorously. We need to create conditions so that, in cases of absence, the situation can be resolved by relocating workers,” he argued.
For Manuel Soares, there should be an effort and dialogue to reinforce the material conditions of doctors and make schedules more flexible.
The official also made an appeal to all professionals to “be available in case of need to remedy the lack of human resources in such basic issues as the opening of the maternity ward.”
As in other units across the country, the Dr. Manoel Constâncio Hospital in Abrantes closed its Obstetrics and Gynecology emergency services due to a lack of human resources, according to information published on the National Health Service (SNS) Portal.
This week, until the 23rd (Friday), the Médio Tejo Local Health Unit has this service and the delivery room closed, except for Thursday.
Due to the closures recorded this summer, the SNS Executive Board urges the population to “always call the SOS Pregnant Line [808 24 24 24] before going to a Gynecology emergency service.”
