The Deputy Secretary of State and Health said today that the legacy of the covid-19 pandemic in Portugal is based on solidarity and work "side by side" between various institutions.
“If there was one thing this pandemic has taught us, it is that overcoming the biggest obstacles is only possible when we work together and side by side. When we establish partnerships and let collectivism prevail over individualism (…) This is the legacy of this pandemic, the reform that remains and will not return”, said António Lacerda Sales, at the closing session of the 23rd congress of the Ordem dos Médicos (OM), which ended today in Coimbra.
Emphasizing that, “from cyclical needs”, “some structural reforms” were carried out, António Sales highlighted the role of professionals from the National Health Service (SNS) and health authorities, regional governments or Social Security, but also local authorities. “who contributed a lot”, from the Civil Protection, professional orders such as the OM or the security forces, among others.
"The intersectorial response to this pandemic proved to be fundamental", emphasized the governor.
“Talking about solidarity is talking about our health professionals, when we write the story of this pandemic it will be about overcoming difficulties, teamwork and interdisciplinary work”, stressed Lacerda Sales, adding that “it is the human resources of excellence that allow us to overcome the enormous challenges to which the NHS has been subjected”.
In his intervention, the Secretary of State assured that the NHS human resources "are a priority and constant concern of the Ministry of Health", alluding to the increase in the number of staff, which has reached over 28 thousand professionals since 2015, six thousand of which doctors.
“The exceptional measures within the scope of the pandemic allowed for the immediate recruitment of workers, which translated into an increase of 10.756 workers between March 2020 and April this year. Of these, 750 are specialist physicians”, he argued.
In addition to the opening of career progression competitions, “the filling of 250 senior graduate assistant positions”, Lacerda Sales highlighted the support of the Medical Association in what he said was the significant increase in productive capacities “allowing entry into the specialty, in January, of 1.867 new doctors”.
“This is the largest number of training capabilities made available since 2009,” highlighted Lacerda Sales.
The Secretary of State acknowledged, however, that everything has not been done and expressed the need to “improve working conditions” for doctors, to allow for the reconciliation of professional, personal and family life.
“And this necessarily implies increasing the number of specialist doctors in our NHS. We now have 3.140 more specialist doctors than in 2015, but we are not content with this increase. It is the Government's intention to pursue this growth policy, namely by increasing the rate of retention of specialist physicians”, stated Lacerda Sales.
With the theme “Science in a Time of Pandemic”, the 23rd National Congress of the Medical Association brought together, over four days, around 1.800 congressmen and more than 200 speakers in 61 work sessions.
JLS // PJA
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