The Foundation for Health – National Health Service (FSNS) will hold, on December 16th, at 17:30 pm, in the Green Amphitheater of the University of Algarve's Campus de Gambelas, a debate on the future of health professionals, with a private emphasis on the Algarve reality.
The debate will bring together three presidents of Professional Orders (Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists) and directors of courses in the areas of Health at UAlg.
The president of the Algarve District Section of the Ordem dos Médicos, Ulisses Brito, the president of the Southern Regional Section of the Ordem dos Farmacêutico, Ema Paulino, and the president of the Southern Regional Section of the Ordem dos Enfermeiros, Alexandre Tomás, will be in dialogue.
UAlg will be represented by Isabel Palmeirim, director of the Integrated Masters in Medicine at UAlg, Maria Palma Mateus, director of the School of Health, and Graça Miguel, director of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Course.
According to the FSNS, "in recent years there has been a tendency for human capital to leave the National Health Service (SNS) for private groups or emigration."
According to the Ordem dos Enfermeiros, the number of its professionals who asked to work abroad has almost quadrupled in recent years.
For its part, the Medical Association states that there was an increase in the request for emigration from 190 medical professionals in 2009 to 650 in 2012.
It is estimated that in 2015 there will not be training capacity for all recent graduates in Medicine, which could imply a new reality of medical unemployment in Portugal.
According to a survey carried out in 2013 by the pharmaceutical sector employability observatory, around 80% of new pharmacists found it difficult to find regular work at the end of their course.
The Ordem dos Farmacêuticos revealed that 260 professionals reported unemployment that year and 267 emigrated, in a profession that until 2011 had an employability rate of 100%.
It is estimated that these numbers continue to rise, while some regions have particular difficulties in attracting professionals for their health services.
In contrast, in 2014 at Centro Hospitalar do Algarve, 102 vacancies were opened for medical specialists, however few were interested in these contracts.
At the same time, there are many health professionals leaving the NHS due to the deterioration of working conditions, which is why the Algarve is a region «where it is particularly important to debate this professional reality», stresses the organization.
The FSNS is a responsible citizenship initiative, independent of any other public or private entity, but it must work closely with the health authorities to ensure the good performance of its mission.
The Foundation promotes and supports a greater literacy of the Portuguese population on the best way to use, benefit from and help in the development of their NHS.
The FSNS advocates the need to support the development of the NHS and collects, from civil society, extraordinary material contributions for this purpose, particularly in periods of economic and financial emergency.
Comments