There will even be «theoretical benefits» at the financial level and rationalization of resources, in the process of merging hospitals that led to the creation of the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve, but these are not being felt, at least for now, due to «the large expenses in displacements', motivated by insufficient human resources.
The president of the Algarve Federation of PS António Eusébio considered in statements to Sul Informação that the inability to promote savings, despite the merger, “is an attempt to keep services open in both hospitals [Faro and Portimão], with the available human resources».
This was one of the conclusions of a meeting that a PS delegation held with the CHA administration, this Monday, as part of an action carried out by the Algarve socialists, to better understand the state of health services in the Algarve.
In addition to the CHA's Board of Directors, the socialists met yesterday with the new president of the Algarve Regional Health Administration. The two meetings were scheduled by António Eusébio, who was accompanied by the national secretary and coordinator for the health area of the PS Álvaro Beleza and by the socialist deputy to the Assembly of the Republic Miguel Freitas.
The meetings aimed, essentially, to accompany the merger process of the Hospital de Faro with the Barlavento Algarvio Hospital Center and the creation of “a new hospital model”, as well as knowing the status of the closing of Health Extensions in the region, carried out in 2013. “Given the delicacy of the matter, health is something that must always be well accompanied. And with the changes and restructuring that are being carried out at the level of administration and technical teams, the concern is increased», illustrated António Eusébio.
"News that are recurrently appearing in the media about the functioning of the current Hospital Center in the Algarve also lead the PS to receive special attention," he added. For the president of the PS/Algarve, the situations reported “show the conditioning of the provision of some health care to users”.
At the base of some failures will be the lack of “specialists and nurses”, one of the limitations that the board of directors of the CHA admitted in the meeting with the socialists.
Recently, at the end of the year, there were difficulties in attending the Hospital de Portimão, whenever there were peaks of affluence. "But, according to the board of directors, this situation will have already been remedied", with the reinforcement of the emergency team.
“We were told of the financial constraints and the need to hire more doctors and nurses”, summarized António Eusébio.
At the meeting with ARSA, the central theme was the closing of Health Extensions in Castro Marim and Alcoutim. In the case of the latter council, whose Chamber is now headed by a socialist, "the characterization of a greatly aged population is all too well known and, for the most part, with high weaknesses in terms of health and various difficulties in terms of mobility to other areas of health".
As the president of the Chamber of Alcoutim Osvaldo Gonçalves revealed to the Sul Informação, a few weeks ago, ARSA has only allowed the reopening of the Vaqueiros Health Extension if facilities that meet the necessary requirements are found and a fast internet connection is installed, investments that the municipality was willing to make.
The closing of the three health units prompted a protest in October, following which ARSA admitted to reassessing the closing of the Extensions, if the necessary conditions were created. According to Osvaldo Gonçalves, 100 thousand euros is the limit that the public institute has to spend, in the three units.
The PS says it has received a guarantee from the new president of ARSA that Health Extensions in the Algarve will not be closed in 2014.
«I think there is a long job to be done in restructuring the Algarve's health services. Health professionals must continue their efforts to strive to improve the National Health Service.
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