Price of surgeries at Santa Maria rose more than 50% in a year. Current minister was the director

The amount paid for surgeries performed at additional hours at the Local Health Unit (ULS) of Santa Maria rose more than 50% from 2022 to 2023, in the year when the current health minister directed the hospital.

Ana Paula Martins assumed the position of chairman of the Board of Directors of the then Lisbon North Hospital Center (hospitals of Santa Maria and Pulido Valente) in February 2023 and left in early 2024.

Data sent to Lusa by the hospital indicate that in 2022 9,402,120 euros were paid by 7,495 surgeries performed at additional hours and 2023 ULS paid 14,232,377 euros (+51.3%) by 9,971 of those surgeries.

By 2024 the number of surgeries at additional hours rose to 12,322, for which ULS paid 14,510,334 euros.

Hospital information indicates that The average amount paid for surgery at additional time descended from 1,427 euros 2023 to 1,177 euros in 2024a year when the hospital broke surgery records, with a total of 37,647 performed, about one third of which at additional time (12,322).

According to these data, the measures applied throughout 2024 by the Board of Directors resulted in a reduction of about 10% in the average cost of surgery in additional production.

Several sources contacted by Lusa said that in 2024, when the current administration – which entered February last year – detected high amounts paid mainly in dermatology decided that All surgeries would be paid for the lowest value of severity (gravity/complexity), having the remaining (better paid) of being properly justified and authorized.

Last week, CNN revealed that a dermatologist from Santa Maria Hospital will have received 400,000 euros on 10 additional Saturdays in 2024, with one of the days being used to remove benign injuries to parents.

At stake is the Integrated Surgery Surgery Management System (Sigic), which allows you to have surgery outside work hours to reduce long waiting lines in hospitals.

Confronted with this situation, the Minister of Health recognized gaps in Sigic, as it permeable to “wicked incentives”.

The sources contacted by Lusa indicated that, in addition to the “filter” imposed on the surgeries performed by the dermatology, the current board of directors, when he realized that the dermatologist now aimed at the CNN report encoded the surgeries he did, prevented him from continuing to do so.

Already in November, when it was detected that the amounts paid were high, two audits were opened, which did not detect any irregular action.

This year, after the chairman of the Board of Directors was confronted with several cases reported in the report, five internal audits involving dermatology were opened.

Last year ULS de Santa Maria performed the largest number of surgeries in the history of your hospitals And in response to the waiting lists’s recovery effort, one third was in additional production, in line with the percentage of the year 2023, during which 4,734 surgeries were performed in a total of 4,734.