The Algarve mayors’ meeting ended with agreement that they "can not remain indifferent to the serious shortage of doctors that exists in Faro and Portimão hospitals and can not stand idly by as reports come in of delayed consultations, postponed surgical procedures, delays in diagnostic procedures and a lack of equipment needed to run the units.
The mayors reported they are "apprehensive" about the quality of health services in the region and said today after their meeting that they are "concerned at the lack of readiness and quality in the provision of health services to the Algarve population.”
The mayors say it is time, once and for all, for the government to sort out healthcare in the Algarve region and solve the many existing issues, according to their joint statement.
Reports of a shortage of doctors and of essential equipment were broadcast in an open letter released two weeks ago by 182 of the 230 doctors working in the Algarve’s public healthcare system.
On the management reorganisation that created Central Hospitals Algarve (CHA) the mayors criticised the fact that this decision was "made in a short time without the necessary consultation and coordination needed with stakeholders and without the involvement of councils." All of this has contributed to the conflict between the doctors and management.
"The government urgently should resolve the situation and should enable the administration immediate to boost the number of doctors and nurses, as well as increasing the number of available beds.”
The mayors said that in the short term the government should enable the improvement of health care in the Algarve to be a reality for local users and for the thousands of tourists who visit the region throughout the year, and it should reopen facilities that are faced with closure.
The mayors expressed unity of concern at the current situation and demanded swift decisions in order to sort out the operation of these hospitals, asking also for a meeting with the Health Minister, Paulo Macedo, who has stayed put of this dispute so far, leaving the flak for the President of the Hospitals of the Algarve, Paulo Nunes.
