Medics working in the Algarve’s creaking healthcare sector have sent a letter to the regional health board outlining the 'degradation in health care’ just seven months after the creation of the new ‘Algarve Central Hospitals’ regional structure.
The explosive letter has been signed by 183 of the 220 specialists from the hospitals in Faro, Portimão and Lagos, some 80%.
The letter has been copied to the Minister of Health, the chairman of the Medical Association, the Parliamentary Committee on Health, and the Algarve Mayors’ group AMAL, as well as to the individual mayors of the Algarve’s councils.
The signatories have accused the director of the board that runs the Algarve’s national health region, Pedro Nunes, of blackmail and of making threats to doctors who have challenged his management, citing his autocratic style and his failure to engage with his workforce at a time when there are serious staff shortages.
The letter comments on a worrying degradation of healthcare in the Algarve with scheduled surgeries postponed for lack of surgical equipment and a decrease in visits by patients due to the reorganisation of the hospital area and the constraints that have been imposed on those that have to travel some distance to get to their nearest hospital.
There are still unacceptable delays in laboratory testing, and some patients have been sent to Seville for tests. The healthcare professionals and patients are often faced with shortages of medicine which is impacting on patient health.
There are still shortages of basic equipment such as syringes, needles, and surgical gloves. In the opinion of the doctors who signed the letter this is an ongoing situation that has led to complaints about the hospital services from patients.
The medics working for the Algarve Central Hospitals region point out that, seven months after the creation of this new management structure, it would have been an appropriate time for reflection and to take a view on the current situation of the regional hospitals.
The authors of the letter state that at stake is not so much the type of business model being implemented, but rather the inability of the management led by Nunes to engage and motivate the medical professionals that serve the public.
The signatories are not only concerned about the degradation of health care provision in the Algarve region due to the policies that are being implemented with grave results for patients, but also are outraged by the lack of consultation and the autocratic style of Pedro Nunes when dealing with those medical professionals that work for him. This is harming patients as the technical opinions of medical experts are not taken into account when deciding treatment.
On Monday the Algarve’s mayors will discuss this serious complaint about poor conditions in hospitals as they considered the content of the document to be sufficiently serious for an immediate meeting.