Tiago Petinga / LUSA
The executive director of the National Health Service, Álvaro Almeida
“In Amadora-Sintra there is a problem and there is a serious problem”, admitted Álvaro Almeida, executive director of the National Health Service.
The executive management of the SNS is meeting today with the ULS Amadora-Sintra to look for solutions to reduce emergency room waiting times at this hospital, which it classified as “the principal problema” do SNS right now.
“I can say that it is the main problem at the moment in the SNS. What concerns the executive management most at the moment is the situation at ULS Amadora Sintra and, in particular, Hospital Fernando Fonseca”, said the executive director of the National Health Service (SNS) today.
On the sidelines of a visit to Póvoa de Varzim Hospital, where he accompanied the Minister of Health, Álvaro Almeida said that a meeting is taking place at ULS Amadora-Sintra to define medium and long-term measures to resolve waiting times in emergency rooms.
“We have some hypotheses, but we are discussing with the board of directors which ones are viable, which ones can be implemented immediately. medium-term solutions and also long-term solutions”, said Álvaro Almeida.
Asked about waiting times in emergency rooms, the executive director acknowledged that there is a lack of professionals at ULS, a factor that affects both hospital services and primary care, and therefore cannot be resolved exclusively by extending opening hours in health centers.
“In Amadora-Sintra there is a problem and there is a serious problem”, he admitted.
At the time of publication of this article, the general emergency room at Fernando Fonseca Hospital exceeded 11 am.
Block returns
The president of the Local Health Unit of Póvoa de Varzim/Vila do Conde assured today that part of the operating room of the hospital that was inoperative due to water infiltration will be fully available next week.
Speaking to journalists, alongside the executive director of the National Security Service, Health (SNS), José Gaspar Pais attributed the situation to “weather conditions adverse conditions” and promised that the ongoing works at the unit will end this week.
“We had a small infiltration. We are making every effort to reactivate the activity. The block has always been operating as an emergency block (…). On Monday we resumed activity in the three rooms”, said José Gaspar Dias.
The Póvoa de Varzim Hospital, in the Porto district, has three operating rooms. Of the three, on the day of the infiltration that occurred last week, only one worked. There are currently two operating.
“We have two rooms working just for emergencies (…). On Monday we already have the planned activity running 100%”, added the president of ULS Póvoa de Varzim/Vila do Conde who received a visit this morning from both Álvaro Almeida and the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, who is touring the country as part of the preparation of the SNS for the winter period.
