A newborn baby had to be resuscitated by a doctor "who does not have the competence to do so", as there is no pediatrician on duty, following complications from a delivery that took place on Saturday at the Hospital de Portimão, Cristóvão denounced. North. The PSD deputy argues that this episode "must be the object of an inquiry".
The parliamentarian elected by the Algarve circle considered the situation, namely the fact that the maternity hospital in Portimão is operating without a pediatrician, «of the greatest seriousness and a gross violation of the most basic medical procedures, putting the health of newborns and children at risk. mothers'.
“Its functioning in these terms can only lead to tragedy. This is not the first time that this has happened», stated Cristóvão Norte.
Contacted by Sul Informação, the University Hospital Center of the Algarve (CHUA) assured that “the child was properly assisted by a highly qualified team of anesthetists and advised by the director of the CHUA Department of Children, Adolescents and Family. Mother and baby are doing well».
"It is serious and irresponsible that CHUA does not provide pediatricians in the Portimão unit, in order to guarantee the safety of the services, namely in the delivery block, nursery, neonatology and pediatric hospitalization, since they host a significant number of newborns and children, but it is even more serious to allow maternity to work in this way», defended, for his part, Cristóvão Norte.
For the PSD deputy to the Assembly of the Republic (AR), who promised to present an application on this matter in Parliament today, "the Government has to act by taking the appropriate measures, namely providing the necessary medical unit and, until it is able to ensure it , not to allow births without the minimum safety rules being complied with'.
«The lack of professionals in the field of pediatrics at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve is recognized. However, the Board of Directors and the team from the Department of Children, Adolescents and Family have been working diligently to guarantee all the stops, which, thanks to the availability of the entire Pediatrics team, has been happening. It should be noted that in the last 6 months, as a result of the effort developed, there has been 100% coverage in the pediatric scales. What happened on the 17th was an exceptional and unpredictable situation», assure those responsible for public hospitals in the Algarve.
"In an exceptional context, such as what happened on the 17th, in which, due to an unpredictable situation, there was no pediatrician, pregnant women in labor are referred to the other maternity hospital of the institution - in Faro. However, in some more emerging cases, namely in situations of imminent delivery, for reasons of safety for the woman and the baby, the transfer of users to the health unit is not considered. Faro, guaranteeing this unit the necessary resources to carry out the birth», he added.
However, the PSD of Portimão has also reacted publicly, finding it strange “the deafening silence of the PS leaders in Portimão and in the Algarve”.
The social democrats from Portimão promise to “inquire, at local and regional level, a position taken by those responsible, without failing to demand from the municipality of Portimão a position on the circumstances that have now become public”.
The reaction on the part of the socialists was not official, but it has already emerged on social networks, through the member of the AR and president of the Algarve Federation of PS Luís Graça.
The socialist explained that "a pediatrician at the Hospital de Portimão fell ill, leaving that unit without a pediatrician in physical presence after 16 pm on Saturday."
Meanwhile, describes Luís Graça, “a woman in a situation of imminent childbirth arrives at the hospital. Your clinical situation does not advise you to transfer to Faro. The obstetrician and anesthesiologist, accompanied by the neonatal services of Faro, decide to deliver. The baby needs resuscitation. Successful intervention. The mother and the baby are well».
The PS deputy elected by the Algarve recalled, in the post on Facebook, that pediatrics is one of the specialties in which the Algarve «has a chronic deficit». But, he assured, "in Portimão, a collective effort has been made to reverse the maternity closure order issued in the past by the PSD/CDS-PP government."
“We have two doctors finishing their internship and from May they will reinforce the hospital teams. Changed the direction of service. Pediatricians, even with more than 55 years, have ensured, by their initiative, the emergencies», guaranteed Luís Graça.
Comments