Courtesy / ULS São João
Now São João Hospital is also part of this national project. There is an important “but” one morning when the phone didn’t work.
The project intends reduce the number of people treated in hospital emergency roomsremoving cases that are not really urgent.
This system of pre-hospital screening, created by the Ministry of Health, it is valid for situations of acute illness and is carried out by the SUS 24 line.
The patient calls, is assessed over the phone, and can then be advised to carry out self-care, may be referred to an emergency room or to a health center.
Now, the largest emergency service in the North of the country is part of this national project: the Saint John’s Hospitalno Porto.
Since this Tuesday, ULS São João also wants to reduce the inappropriate use of Emergency Room and Acute Consultation in Primary Care.
Membership serves to “guide each patient to the appropriate location”, reads a statement sent to ZAP.
“We want to place each type of patient in the place that is best prepared to care for them”, explains Cristina Marujo, Director of the Emergency Service.
“If less seriously ill patients are cared for in places more suited to their situation, we have greater availability and more resources for patients who actually need to resort to the Emergency Service Hospital”, explains Cristina.
The idea is also to reduce the pressure on non-urgent patients – which are usually around 30% of the services in this emergency service.
What if it doesn’t call?
Anyone who arrives at the São João emergency room without having called SNS24, you will be invited to call SNS24 anyway – already at the hospital.
He calls at the service door – there is a yellow phone outside for this – and only then enters the emergency room, if justified.
If the case is not considered urgent, the patient is referred to primary healthcare to consultation by appointment on the same day or the following day; or is referred to the Clinical Service Center, in Prelada.
“It is a paradigm shift in the emergency room of the largest ULS in the North of the State.”, concludes Lígia Silva, Clinical Director of Primary Care at ULS São João.
At one point on opening morning, there was a queue for the yellow phone, images from .
But the same yellow phone had problems on the first day. According to the newspaper, the phone gave error messages for an hour; no one could call. Only if they accepted calling from their own cell phone – not everyone does.
When the phone breaks down, and also in cases of who refuses call SNS24 beforehand (right outside the hospital), the usual screening process at entry.
