Director of Surgery at Santo Antônio received R$178,000 after suggesting his own remuneration

Eurico Castro Alves, who was the coordinator of surgeries performed during overtime, proposed the percentage of his own remuneration. In total, he earned 178 thousand euros, a payment that IGAS considers undue.

A proposal made by Eurico Castro Alvesdirector of Surgery at the Local Health Unit of Santo António (ULSSA), is being investigated by the General Inspection of Health Activities (IGAS) due to suspicions about the legality of payments associated with surgeries performed outside normal hours.

According to , at issue is the definition of a percentage of remuneration attributed to the coordinator of these interventions, a function that the doctor himself accumulated.

According to the IGAS preliminary report, in March 2022, Castro Alves proposed to the hospital administration to allocation of 0.4% of the funds from the Integrated Surgery Registration Management System (SIGIC) to the coordinator of the Hospital Unit responsible for managing surgical waiting lists. The proposal also included 0.2% for the hospital administrator involved.

The initiative came about after an internal legal opinion that recommended that these remunerations be “reasonable, equitable and proportionate“. The administration, then led by Paulo Barbosa, approved the proposal a few days later. Previously, since 2017, higher percentages were in force: 1.25% for the coordinator and 0.8% for the administrator.

According to IGAS, between 2021 and 2025, Castro Alves will have received more than R$178 thousand within the scope of these functions. The body considers this amount to be irregular, alleging a violation of SIGIC rules. The doctor and ULSSA argue that the payments are legal and comply with existing standards.

The hospital administration did not clarify why it was beneficiary himself to propose the percentage of his remuneration. In response to criticism, ULSSA argues that the change in percentages was intended to simplify and standardize the calculation model.

The institution also invokes current legislation, in particular the ordinance that regulates the SIGIC, which gives hospital administration boards the power to define the distribution of funds between the different professionals involved, without specific restrictions regarding categories.