Doctors heading various departments at Évora Hospital have presented their resignation ‘en masse’ today after an audit ruled they have been overpaid and must stump up thousands of euros.
23 directors and heads of department have put their names to an indignant letter of collective resignation, though it’s not immediately clear when (or indeed if) they will be leaving their posts.
Explains Público, the audit, performed by the Accounts Court, calls for the repayment of all monies overspent.
The president of the hospital’s administrative council has said she doesn’t agree with the Accounts Court’s findings, but will ‘notify’ the doctors concerned nonetheless.
She told Lusa that “one cannot ignore this hospital like the crushing majority of SNS health service institutions is in serious financial difficulties and economically sick as a result of lack of investment and heavy costs”.
But trying to claw back salaries paid to high-ranking medical staff clearly isn’t the way forwards.
Says Público, the account court audit spotted “various irregularities”, among them the hiring of two directors “who didn’t fulfill legal requirements” and the paying of 14 months salary to various doctors (instead of 12) over a three-year period (2015-2018).
The costs involved run to 64,000 euros (in the case of the purportedly incorrectly hired directors) and 86,000 euros (for the overpaid doctors).
Written by Natasha Donn
By kind permission of the Portugal Resident
