Government's "denial syndrome" over the healthcare crisis

The 2013 annual report of  the Observatório Português dos Sistemas de Saúde (Portuguese Observatory on Health Systems) finds that the country's relentless austerity programme has worsened the health of the country’s population.

The report states that the crisis is having a significant impact on several key health indicators and accuses the government of suffering from a "denial syndrome" by its persistent rejection of the reality of healthcare in the country.

In the introduction, the authors state that "the negative effects of the financial and economic crisis on health are avoidable," and for that, we need to "invest in both social protection and public health" stressing that "investing in health serves not only to protect people from the crisis, but may have an important role in the country’s economic recovery.”

“Given the harsh austerity measures, good public health practices anticipate and prevent adverse effects on the welfare of the population.”

According to the authors, the path followed by the government has been precisely the opposite. "Instead, it seems evident in both the European Union and the Portuguese Government, that the evidence of the impact of the crisis on people's health has been ignored, discussion has been avoided, so have preventative measures. Such an attitude could even be dubbed the syndrome of denial."

In the 2012 report, the experts warned the country would suffer due to the rationing of Portuguese health care. In 2013, the document referred to "two faces of health," confronting the "official version" with data and studies available on the "real experience of people."

Indicators of mental health such as depression and suicide were also cited in the 2013 report.

The authors point the finger at the existence of two worlds: one is the official version where all is well and the second is the real world of people’s actual experiences.

The Algarve is a microcosm of the overall malaise. The public is told that all is well in the region, operations are up, waiting times are down but the reality is a system in crisis with a critical lack of doctors and nurses, a dual management structure that is at war with itself, a vote of no confidence by the region’s doctors, temporary closures of emergency services due to a lack of staff, shortages of drugs and essential medical materials, agency staff costing more than permanent staff, a recruitment policy based on shipping in overseas professionals on short-term contracts and new NHS-only contracts that have seen doctors opt for the private sector.   

This Alice in Wonderland pretence that the system is working needs to end and managers who can manage put in charge, with adequate budgets to cope with the threefold increase in population over the summer months.

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