Although the Algarve Regional Health Authority’s announcement on Thursday that 65 regional nurses' jobs have been filled, was welcomed by the union, it commented that there is still a lack of nurses in the Algarve.
The Union of Portuguese Nurses added that some of these nurses already have been working in the Algarve’s Health Centers under a temporary work regime and now have had their posts confirmed but there remain 146 nursing posts to be filled under the health ministry’s own formula for calculating staff numbers.
The union has informed the Authority about the gap and anticipates that in January and February, the region will lose 40 nurses making it even more difficult to respond to the predicted workload due to ‘flu cases peaking.
The union wants the ministry to minimise the problems and to hire more nurses for the Algarve in accordance with previously advised staffing numbers.
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