The Association of Municipalities Terras do Infante, which integrates the municipalities of Aljezur, Lagos and Vila do Bispo, unanimously approved, on the 23rd, a Motion of Repudiation and Objection denouncing the possible closure of the Emergency Department of the Hospital de Lagos and the «way in which this process is being conducted, without the slightest respect for the public interests of the region, its residents or those who choose “Terras do Infante” as a tourist destination».
The motion, presented by the president of the association's Board of Directors, the mayor Júlio Barroso (Lagos), promptly signed by the presidents Adelino Soares (Vila do Bispo) and José Amarelinho (Aljezur), was triggered by news broadcast by the media. account of the existence of a study by experts pointing to the closure of the Basic Emergency Service of the Hospital de Lagos.
In the document now approved, both by the Board of Directors and by the Intermunicipal Assembly of Terras do Infante, the elected representatives of the three municipalities, on behalf of its citizens, families and companies, and all tourists who choose Terras do Infante as a tourist destination, come publicly to denounce, contest and repudiate «this whole process misguided and antagonistic to the interests of this territory», recalling, by the way, in the document that «this region has been, historically and geographically, hampered by precarious accessibility (even today, far away of being well served by the delays in the requalification of the EN 125 and EN 120), caused by the wait for Via do Infante (which was due to arrive in 1992 and only arrived in 2003) and now punished by the tolls that are especially burdensome”.
This motion of repudiation denounces “either the method followed in the preparation and publicity, or the content of the aforementioned study – published on the Ministry of Health website'.
According to the three municipalities represented by their presidents and two other councilors each, the study should take into account several factors.
Thus, they consider, "in its elaboration, the legitimate local representatives elected by the populations served by the referred service were not heard".
Furthermore, the «publication of such a study without having been made aware of it to the mayors of the regions involved (or to their regional associations – AMAL, and national – ANMP) who, thus, became aware of it only through the media», is, according to the association Terras do Infante, “a serious protocol and institutional fault”.
On the other hand, "the study in question, carried out in the absence of the populations, their legitimate representatives and regional socioeconomic operators, contradicts the conclusions of other studies previously carried out, namely the strategic plan for hospital emergencies, for which the municipalities, the their associations, employers and unions, companies and citizens had the opportunity to speak out, a situation that has not happened now».
The Associação Terras do Infante also considers that «the opportunity for the dissemination of this study is also, to say the least, disastrous, as it brings to the public discussion such a sensitive issue during the tourist season, in which the country, especially the Algarve, receives millions of visitors, to whom the subject will not fail to make a (bad!) impression, a greater feeling of insecurity and concern about health care».
The municipalities even consider that this "may be reflected in future reserves in a market so sensitive and with so many competitors, that they will not fail to take full advantage of such a disastrous measure and conduct."
Such a study, in his opinion, «reveals a purely economic concern and relegates to the background values, rights and interests that the Portuguese State is obliged to respect and enforce, and that the municipalities, under penalty of denying their historical reason for existence, they cannot but complain».
The closure of the Basic Emergency Service at the Hospital de Lagos and the referral of potential users to the Hospital do Barlavento in Portimão «does not respect the rights of residents of the areas served, which include the three councils of this Association of Municipalities “Terras do Infante” (Lagos, Aljezur and Vila do Bispo), thus faced with a much longer distance and travel time, traffic conflicts on EN 120 and 125 (not yet recovered), or tolls on Via do Infante, in addition to approximately 30.000 calls per year de Lagos will contribute to greater congestion in the already extremely congested Emergency Room at the Hospital do Barlavento/Portimão, where some patients are already waiting hours and hours to be seen… urgently! ».
On the other hand, they consider, "the study did not take into due account that to the approximately 45.000 inhabitants registered in the three municipalities, there is a circulating, tourist and second-home population, which varies between half of the residents and four or five times more their number, which in periods of high tourism makes up about 200.000 people».
It also did not "consider the increased costs for the population, for local authorities, fire brigades and other institutions for the transport of patients, normally dependent on municipal support, in travel, ambulance services, transport costs, vehicles, fuel, lost hours of work of sick and family members, road accidents and their consequences, etc».
And the study "did not take into due account the interests of the main economic activity, by the way exporting and fundamental to combat the external deficit, which is tourism, where one of the advantages recognized to our region is precisely the hospital and emergency care network existing medical, public and private The study neglected this aspect, not having deigned to consult representatives of local and regional tourist and hotel operators, nor other entities and institutions with recognized knowledge and studies on the Algarve region, as is the case of the University of Algarve».
For all these reasons, those responsible for the “Terras do Infante – Association of Municipalities (Aljezur, Lagos and Vila do Bispo) appeal to the Government of the Nation “not to carry on this malfeasance to the populations of this westernmost Algarve, justifying it. if fully maintained (and improved, contrary to what has been administratively being done with the gradual deactivation of services, services and resources) the Basic Emergency Service of the Hospital de Lagos».
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