This Monday, INEM paid firefighters’ associations around 9.7 million euros that were owed for the urgent transport of patients carried out in February, the institute told the Lusa agency.
A League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP) also confirmed that the outstanding debt of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) was “paid today in full”.
On social media, LBP highlighted that on Thursday, the last day of the month, around 10 million euros more will be due for services provided by firefighters in March, “the payment of which is expected this week”.
A source from INEM confirmed that the debt for March is due at the end of this week, and is “making every effort” to make the 474 payments to firefighter associations and the Portuguese Red Cross, which are the partners of the Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIEM), as “as quickly as possible”.
The institute awaits the necessary authorization from the Government to use the management balance to make the payment in question.
According to LBP, the “delays observed” in INEM payments “caused serious constraints on the associations’ treasuries, particularly for payments to employees and permanent suppliers”.
According to the agreement signed with the firefighters, Samu has to pay by the last day of the following month the amounts charged for the transport of urgent patients carried out during the previous month.
The institute pays firefighters and the Portuguese Red Cross a fixed monthly subsidy of 8,760 for each emergency ambulance, integrated into the SIEM, to which is added a variable rate according to the kilometers covered in the services.
The LPB intends to update these values, with the president of INEM, Luís Mendes Cabral, recently adding that there is already a “principle of agreement” to increase it to 10,800 euros per month, but that it is dependent on a budget reinforcement from the institute, which will allow it to accommodate the increase in expenses.
This month, LBP announced that it intends to terminate the cooperation agreement with INEM for the provision of pre-hospital assistance, a measure unanimously approved by its National Council and which will come into effect 120 days after the institute is notified.
“The issue is not the value, it is the non-compliance with the contract”, highlighted the president of LBP, António Nunes, specifying that INEM is obliged to settle the amount owed to the firefighters for pre-hospital assistance in the month following the provision of the service, which, said the head of the league, has not happened lately.
