PS Deputy Miguel Freitas today classified as "unqualified" the situation of uncertainty created by the Government regarding the possible withdrawal, from Loulé, of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) helicopter, considering that, if implemented, this decision will have «very serious consequences for the provision of health and emergency services in the Algarve region, where phenomena such as road accidents tend to increase at this time of year».
A subscriber to the question presented today by the PS Parliamentary Group to the Minister of Health on the Government's true intentions on this matter, Miguel Freitas criticizes the way in which the Executive has been «cutting expenditure, without looking at means and without measuring the real consequences of these measures in the lives of citizens'.
«There is no joke with people's health and it is unacceptable for the Government to decide to eliminate this important means of emergency, at a time when the probability of accidents and the consequent use of this equipment for transporting patients in the Algarve substantially increases. This is a decision with serious consequences for people and for the image of the region itself», observes the parliamentarian, for whom the removal of the aircraft from the heliport of Loulé represents a serious gap in terms of emergency services, not only in the Algarve but also in Baixo Alentejo.
In the presentation to the Government in which they questioned the grounds for the announced decision to withdraw the helicopter parked in Loulé, socialist deputies Miguel Freitas, João Soares and António Serrano, coordinator of the PS Health area, even underline that, with the emergency activity functioning in a network of complementarities between the various means of medical emergency at the service of the population, «there is a risk that, in view of the elimination of this helicopter, the aid may be compromised in the Algarve».
And they point out that, in addition to the fact that there is no other location in the south of the country that is more favorable for parking the referred means, there is currently a tender for works to improve the heliport of Loulé, allegedly requested by INEM to enable the night service of helicopters, budgeted at around 800 thousand euros, under a project submitted to the Operational Program for Human Potential, that is, through community funding.
"We will continue to fight against this decision of the Government, which reappears at an extremely inopportune time for the safety of all of us", guarantees Miguel Freitas, also criticizing the leaders and deputies of the PSD and CDS for their silence in the face of another "attempt of devitalizing the Algarve».
The PS parliamentarians also want to know if the Government has considered the consequences inherent to this decision for the tourist activity in the Algarve, as well as its impact on the image of the region and the Country in the world tourism market, having requested an evaluation of the last two years these services, as well as the respective operating costs on which the decision of the Ministry of Health was based.
The deputies also asked the Ministry of Health for clarification on how it intends to ensure the complementarity of means of medical emergencies in the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo.
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