The director of Human Resources at ULS Lisboa Oeste, accused of having tied an employee to a chair with tape, has been suspended and is the subject of disciplinary proceedings, the institution confirmed this Friday to Lusa.
The worker was allegedly prevented from getting up, while intimidating expressions were directed at her, including the phrase: “don’t get up until you finish what I told you”. The situation would have caused anxiety and tachycardia to the employee, who was later observed by a doctor from the hospital unit.
According to the news released by TVI, André Coelho Dias, it was suspended for 90 days.
Contacted by Lusa, the Western Lisbon Local Health Unit (ULSLO) stated that, by decision of the board of directors, “the director of Human Resources is removed from office while the disciplinary process is ongoing”.
The functioning of the institution’s Human Resources Management area led the president of the Order of Nurses, Luís Filipe Barreira, to send a letter at the end of May to the president of the ULS Council of Western Lisbon, Isabel Aldir, and a report to the General Inspection of Health Activities (IGAS).
The person responsible was already under scrutiny by IGAS, following an anonymous complaint about alleged hiring irregularitiesincluding recruitment processes that will not have respected legal procedures. Furthermore, he is also accused of non-payment of time allowance to doctors and nurses.
In this participation, the Order denounces the actions of the management of the Human Resources Management Service and attaches a position adopted by more than 95% of the directors, managers and those responsible for clinical and assistance structures at ULS Lisboa Oeste, addressed to the Board of Directors, in which situations of “high severity”.
The order says it received several reports that “reinforce the concern” in relation to the working environment at ULS Lisboa Oeste and the performance of the management of that service.
Among the cases reported is that of a worker with more than 20 years of service in that department, who was allegedly the target of a situation described by several professionals as “particularly humiliating”.
IGAS has already initiated a clarification process to investigate the facts related to complaints involving the director of the Human Resources Management service, as reported by Público.
The clarification process was initiated by order of the inspector general, Carlos Carapetoon June 5, with “the aim of investigating the facts related to reports of alleged harassment situations involving a manager at the Local Health Unit of Western Lisbon”.
On May 31, João Gamelas resigned from his position as clinical director for the hospital area of ULS Lisboa Oeste for personal reasons, but acknowledged to Lusa that “the problem experienced in trust and relationships with professionals” weighed on the decision.
The doctor left the institution when there were several complaints about the working environment experienced in the ULS Human Resources Management Service, which includes the São Francisco Xavier, Egas Moniz and Santa Cruz hospitals, in addition to 19 health centers with 40 functional units in primary health care.
Asked about the reasons for leaving his position and leaving ULS Lisboa Oeste, where he was also director of the Emergency Service and directed the Orthopedics and Traumatology Service, the specialist cited personal reasons.
“I am going to change to a life more befitting my 65 years of age, but I leave the institution with great regret, after so many decades, and so many, many friends, even more so in a situation as difficult as the one we are experiencing at the moment,” he declared.
João Gamelas also recognized that “the problem with trust and relationships with professionals” weighed on the decision he took in March and was implemented at the end of May.
Sources from the institution told Lusa at the time that, despite the doctor having cited personal reasons for leaving his position, the tense situation experienced in human resources would have been one of the factors which led him to resign from his position.
