In a statement published on its website, the Local Health Unit of Baixo Alentejo (ULSBA), which includes the Beja hospital, said that the closure is due to “unforeseen reasons.”
“The emergency schedule for the Pediatrics specialty was left uncovered, making it necessary to close the Pediatric Emergency Service” of the hospital, between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM, according to the same communication.
As a consequence, ULSBA reports that the maternity ward of the same hospital unit is also closed for the same period.
Although the information regarding the closure of the pediatric emergency department of this Alentejo hospital is on the ULSBA website, the National Health Service (SNS) website does not mention this closure today, at least until 12:40 PM.
According to the SNS website, the services closed today are the Pediatric Emergency at Hospital Nossa Senhora do Rosário in Barreiro, Setúbal district, and the obstetrics and gynecology emergencies of the same hospital unit and of the São Bernardo Hospital in Setúbal, and the District Hospital of Caldas da Rainha in the Leiria district.
Three units have referenced emergencies: the Pediatric Emergency of the Complementary Pediatric Care Service in Viseu, between 8:15 PM and 11:00 PM, and at Hospital Professor Doutor Fernando da Fonseca, known as Amadora-Sintra Hospital, the Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency, between 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM, and the Pediatric Emergency between 8:00 PM and 12:00 AM.
In the referenced units, services are reserved for internal emergency cases or those referred by the Urgent Patient Guidance Center (CODU) of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) or by the SNS 24 line.
When asked about the fact that the closure of the pediatric emergency at Beja hospital is not listed on the SNS website, a source from the Ministry of Health indicated that “data loading on the platform is the responsibility of the 39 local health units” that exist in the country.
However, in this case, the same source informed that “there was a delay in updating data related to ULSBA due to a system update, which is operated by the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS).”
“ULSBA communicated, but there was a system update and the loading was delayed,” the source emphasized, indicating that the information about ULSBA should “soon be correct” on the SNS page.
