The Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP) has expressed concern over the possibility that management of the Algarve’s regional health board, the Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS), could be transferred to the private sector.
The SEP is calling on the Government to clarify whether this is indeed its intention. According to SEP official Guadalupe Simões, in addition to comments made by the Health Minister in a parliamentary committee last year suggesting such a possibility, the president of the Portuguese Union of Misericórdias recently “publicly stated that he was available to take on the private management” of the Algarve ULS. For reference, Santa Casa da Misericórdia is a private charitable institution whose mission is to treat and support the sick, disabled people, and orphans.
“Surely, both the unions and healthcare professionals will fight against this possibility,” the union official said at a press conference in Faro today, expressing concern about what would happen to healthcare workers if such a scenario were to materialise.
According to the representative from the nursing union, these statements have led them to believe that the possibility is “being cooked up” of the Union of Misericórdias presenting itself as a “privileged partner” in the private management of the Algarve’s regional hospital board, potentially alongside the CUF, Luz, and Lusíadas private healthcare groups.
The union official fears that healthcare workers could be affected by any change in management, particularly in terms of employment and working conditions, pointing to the experience of previous public-private partnerships (PPPs).
“[…] Given that we currently have nurses and other professionals working under public employment contracts and individual employment contracts, it is important to know what kind of deal the Ministry of Health might be negotiating, for example, whether the individual employment contracts currently in place, which already represent the majority, could be transferred to the private partner, changing the working conditions that currently apply,” she said.
Simões also voiced concern about the potential impact of private management on primary healthcare, warning that it could lead to changes in the public provision of healthcare and disease prevention services.
“The Government has an obligation to make it public that this option will have an impact on indicators such as mortality rates, clinical outcomes, complications, safety, [and] continuity of care,” she added.
For Simões, a possible transition to private management would mean that “the Government, as far as the Algarve region is concerned, continues down a path of dismantling the public system in order to make it easier for this management to be handed over, without, to date, being able to demonstrate the efficiency and improvements that would result from a move to private management.”
Rosa Franco, of the Public Sector Workers’ Union, also attended the press conference. She highlighted the Algarve’s “very significant” shortage of staff across all professional groups, adding that the Algarve ULS still owes healthcare workers substantial sums resulting from the 2023-2024 and 2025 performance assessment processes.
At the end of July, the Government signed an agreement to return São João da Madeira Hospital to the local Misericórdia, with the transfer due to take effect on 1 November. Under the agreement, the Santa Casa will receive €13.85 million a year.
The hospital was the reason for the creation of the local Santa Casa in 1921, which was established to oversee its management, and the facility opened in 1966. In 1975, it became part of Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS) and is currently under the direct administration of the Douro e Vouga Local Health Unit (ULS).
The agreement is valid for 10 years and stipulates that the “return” of the hospital to the Misericórdia will be overseen by a monitoring committee. It also requires compliance with the rules governing the SNS, as well as the “demonstration and guarantee of economy, effectiveness, and efficiency in procurement” and the “maximisation of existing resources”.
At the time, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro did not set out any specific benefits of removing the hospital from the ULS and handing its operation to the Santa Casa, particularly given that the hospital will remain within the SNS and its activities will continue to be funded by the State.
However, he said: “We have no obsession with making agreements like this. If it is not more efficient for the public service, we will not do it. [In this case] the negotiating process we initiated resulted in a solution that is more beneficial for us and for the people.”
Source: LUSA
Photo credit: Luis Forra / LUSA
