The Minister of Health explains that she visited INEM this Tuesday to “make a commitment face to face”: to create conditions for an adequate response.
“INEM became under my direct dependence since two days ago because it is a matter of enormous priority as we are seeing“, says Ana Paula Martins, after meeting with those responsible for the institute, in Lisbon.
For the minister, it is necessary to restore confidence to the population after all the “social alarm” of recent days to which the Government “is neither indifferent nor oblivious”.
Ana Paula Martins adds that the solving problems at INEM is “such a way important, urgent and priority” that your “daily” time has to be “dedicated more than 70%” to this matter.
The person responsible for the Health department visited the institute this Tuesday to “amake a commitment eye to eye”:
“My coming here has a lot to do with being close to these people to make a commitment on the part of the Government of create conditions for an adequate response“, he says.
And he reiterates that he will “take to the end” his commitment to finding solutions to the institute’s problems.
“We want to give back the confidence that when they call 112 they will have a specialized team, committed and committed to saving lives”, he adds.
November 4th: one of the shifts did not fulfill minimum services?
Speaking to journalists, the minister says that she met with the technicians’ union as soon as she had knowledge of two strikes simultaneously overtime –a of pre-hospital emergency technicians and the public functiona.
“Two strikes together in one day generated a great inability to respond, anxiety. As soon as I realized this situation, I took a solution in hand and resolved what needed to be resolved”, he says.
Asked about the statements in Parliament, in which she said that one of the shifts did not fulfill the minimum services on November 4th due to lack of human resources, Ana Paula Martins says that she asked for a inspection so that “there are no doubts” on the fulfillment of services.
“When were they fulfilled, when were they not fulfilled and why were they not fulfilled”.
The person responsible ensures that the INEM did “what it managed to do”.
However, it does not clarify whether workers were notified 24 hours in advance as required by law.
Deaths allegedly associated with INEM failures
Ana Paula Martins “deeply wishes” that the investigations have results “as quickly as possible”.
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, considers that these difficulties cannot be resolved by resigning the minister.
