The Algarve's mayors have said to the Minister of Health that Pedro Nunes (pictured), the chairman of the board of directors of the Hospitals of the Algarve, is in an "untenable position" managing the hospitals in Faro, Portimão and Lagos, and must go.
The position was made clear by the Algarve's mayors in a long-awaited meeting with Health Minsiter Paulo Macedo to discuss the situation of the health sector in the Algarve after a group of 180 doctors sent an open letter outlining the poor conditions in those hospitals that comprise the Hospital of the Algarve group and listing complaints about delayed operations and lack of medical materials.
"The Mayors of the Algarve have decided that Dr. Pedro Nunes has placed himself in an untenable position to manage the hospitals. Now it is up to the Minister to make decisions," said the president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL), Jorge Botelho, referring to Pedro Nunes, chairman of the board that managed the Algarve’s public hospitals.
Botelho said that the mayors understand that Pedro Nunes has placed himself in this position by acting in a confrontational way “with everyone." The Minister "noted" the complaints but said that "only in exceptional cases has management been changed.”
Jorge Botelho added that there is a "perception and climate of mistrust between the management and the medical profession and hospital workers. This is witnessed by a lack of medication and supplies, and the postponement of appointments, much obviously has to do with the lack of doctors."
The lack of appeal of the region for doctors was another issue discussed at the meeting which lasted over two hours. Paul Macedo said that he would continue with the standard of quality that had been achieved to date, according to Botelho.
Botelho concluded that the goal of AMAL is that the Algarve offers "access to effective health care," a concern that apparently is shared by the Health Minister.
When the Mayors asked for Pedro Nunes’s replacement, the Minister of Health said that he "believes in the management model implemented by Pedro Nunes and maintains every confidence in him.”
Macedo assured the Mayors that he “will ensure that there is reinforcement of human resources as required in the Algarve, in particular through calls for tenders for hiring more doctors and that he believed that with this, things will stabilise."
The Health Minister also assured the meeting that he has no intention of closing any more health facilities in the Algarve.
