The visit that the Secretary of State for Health made to the Algarve, last Tuesday, served for Manuel Delgado to announce more doctors for the region and new incentives for hiring clinicians, but the government official learned about some of the problems with the services. health professionals face on a daily basis.
Lagos, Portimão, Algoz, Loulé, São Brás de Alportel and Faro were the stopping points of the member of Government. There were openings, presentations, meetings and visits in a busy day.
The “round” of the Secretary of State began in Lagos, where the new Family Health Unit was inaugurated, which will cover 10 inhabitants without a family doctor. The USF in Lagos has 6 doctors, 6 nurses and 5 technical assistants.
At the inauguration, both the chairman of the ARS Algarve Board of Directors and the Mayor of Lagos, Joaquina Matos, welcomed the opening of yet another Family Health Unit in the Algarve, the first in Lagos.
For the mayor, this was "an important day in the life of the municipality, because we are better serving the population, providing better health conditions for the Lacobrigenses, who for years have struggled with various difficulties in this area."
Joaquina Matos took the opportunity to ask the Secretary of State for «all the attention and support of the Portuguese State to Hospital de Lagos» defending that «although there is a good private hospital in Lagos, it is essential that we be able to strengthen the public component».
The Secretary of State for Health considered the opening of this new Unit "another important step towards better serving the population", hoping that "this seed can be replicated whenever possible".
From Lagos, Manuel Delgado went to Portimão, where he was received by Isilda Gomes and visited the oncology day hospital of the Portimão Unit of the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve and the Portimão Health Center. Continuing the visits, the Secretary of State, on his way to Sotavento, stopped in Algoz and visited the Long-Term and Maintenance Unit of the National Network for Integrated Continued Care.
In Loulé, Manuel Delgado participated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Council and the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve, which provides for the creation of new equipment which will integrate the Lauroé Family Health Unit and the headquarters of the Health Centers Group of the Algarve I CES Central.
The new building will be located on land ceded by the Municipality, next to the Court of Loulé, with a total area of 607,50 m2, and will substantially improve a Family Health Unit that «has been operating in very deplorable conditions, with great effort and dedication by professionals», referred the president of the ARS, Moura Reis, regarding a service that works in containers at the Loulé Health Centre.
The Mayor of Loulé, Vítor Aleixo, underlined the fact that this was "another step in the construction of a Family Health Unit that took a long time" and took the opportunity to draw attention to some needs in terms of services provided in the municipality in terms of of public health.
"We have a very critical situation, healthcare is provided under conditions that have deteriorated a lot in recent years, there are deficits at various levels," said the mayor, for whom the lack of doctors is one of the most pertinent issues.
According to the municipality of Loulé, of the «users registered in the structures of health provision in the Municipality, only 54% have a family doctor. On the other hand, during the last few days, the extension of Benafim, an inland village with a mostly elderly population, has been operating without a doctor». The Secretary of State has given assurances that this situation will be resolved with the admission of a doctor in the coming days.
Vítor Aleixo also recalled the public demonstrations held in Loulé of dissatisfaction with the lack of doctors and the threat of closing health structures, but also the lack of nurses, administrative staff and materials.
This protocol is for the mayor "a sign of the administration, in many years, that this disinvestment in public health in the region can be stopped and that we can give a sign of hope to the citizens."
Regarding the memorandum of understanding, Vítor Aleixo expressed the wish that this project could develop rapidly to solve the problem of currently existing deficient facilities and, on the other hand, that the city of Quarteira could also benefit from the construction of a Family Health Unit, because this is also a priority for health policies in the region.
Faced with the presence of the new INEM president at this ceremony, Aleixo said that the City Council is available so that the facilities of this relief and medical emergency service can be located in Loulé, given its centrality.
Finally, Vítor Aleixo addressed the construction of the Hospital Central do Algarve as one of the great needs of the Algarve. “The crisis imposes restrictions, but the people of the Algarve would like not to drop this flag. We have to find the right time to restart that process», he concluded.
In response to the mayor, the Secretary of State said that the Ministry is "very attentive to the evolution of health conditions and equipment in the Algarve and is making efforts to find solutions for the lack of doctors and nurses".
After Vítor Aleixo's “complaints” in Loulé, Manuel Delgado went to São Brás de Alportel and heard Vitor Guerreiro's “complaints” during his visit to the Center for Medicine and Rehabilitation of the South. their concerns with the state of health in the region and in particular in the 5 municipalities that make up the Health Centers Group (ACES) of the Central Algarve: Albufeira, Faro, Loulé, Olhão and São Brás de Alportel».
As President of the Community Council of ACES Central, Vitor Guerreiro, in a meeting with the Secretary of State for Health, handed him an official letter with a list of the different constraints identified in the different functional units of this ACES that suffer from lack of resources human resources, lack of computer equipment and consumables, lack of maintenance and repairs in buildings, repair and maintenance of vehicles, among others.
The mayor also took the opportunity to ask for a quick solution for the management of the Center for Medicine and Rehabilitation of the South and to draw attention to the operating limitations that the Regional Public Health Laboratory is facing, namely the lack of reagents and consumables .
From São Brás de Alportel, Manuel Delgado went to Faro where, in addition to the good news about the arrival of doctors, he revealed that between the 1st of July and the 15th of September, the region will have 32 medical assistance points on the Algarve's beaches and 12 health centers that will have “tourist consultations”. In other words, they will have extended hours until midnight and, from 18:00 onwards, they will be available to assist those on holiday in the Algarve.
It was also announced the presence of an INEM ambulance in Albufeira, during the summer a motorcycle for medical emergencies in Portimão and a temporary medical assistance point in Armação de Pêra.
The “tourist consultations” will work in Sagres, Portimão, Armação de Pêra, Carvoeiro, Alvor, Olhos de Água, Quarteira, Almancil, Olhão, Tavira, Monte Gordo and Height.
From the pavilion of the Afonso III school, where this presentation was made, Manuel Delgado went to the Hospital de Faro for a working meeting behind closed doors.
The day only ended after 20:45, when the Secretary of State went to Vila Real de Santo António to visit the Basic Emergency Service in that city.
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