The Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) has 100 health professionals infected with covid-19, which is creating difficulties in the preparation of service schedules, especially in pediatric emergencies, the clinical director told Lusa today.
“Only in the hospital Faro We have 13 infected doctors, of which five are from Pediatrics and this is our main problem, because it is the scale that is most deficient, which forces us to reconcile with the Portimão hospital unit”, said Horácio Guerreiro.
According to the clinician, in the three units that make up the Algarve hospital – Faro, Portimão and Lagos – on Sunday, there were a total of 100 health professionals infected with the disease, “causing many difficulties in the functioning of the services”, but which have been “minimized” with the help of other professionals.
“Right now, the biggest difficulty is in the emergency department of Pediatrics. Faro, where we normally have four pediatricians on duty, two in each of the hospitals in Faro and Portimão, and, at this time, we have a deficit of two shifts per week, periods in which we have the Portimão unit”, he underlined.
That official admitted that the impediment of doctors to work, due to infection by the new coronavirus, “will cause, until the end of the month, difficulties in the care of Pediatrics, mainly in one or two periods”.
“We still don’t know what will happen, but this week we have a period uncovered, for example, during today, when we have another doctor who is not on the emergency scale and who will provide support until 17:00” , needed.
Horácio Guerreiro guaranteed that assistance “is not at issue” and that pediatric urgency “is always provided by other doctors”, with a permanent pediatrician in pediatric intensive care who can support the care.
“There is never a lack of doctors in the hospital to guarantee the assistance of urgent cases”, he reinforced, stressing that serious situations “are always attended to”.
However, if they are situations considered intermediate, which can be postponed, assistance is provided on the next shift, said the clinical director of CHUA.
In case of last necessity, “children can always move from one place to another. Faro to Portimão or vice versa”, he said.
Horácio Guerreiro added that each of the six specialist doctors available for emergencies at the hospital in Faro “is working the legal limit of overtime hours per week”, that is, “another 12 hours in addition to the normal 12”, which, to fulfill the seven days of the week, means that “a doctor would be lacking”.
According to the clinical director of CHUA, the problems in the Pediatrics service are not only caused by covid-19, since it is a service where there are only three doctors of legal age – under 55 years old – to ensure emergencies. .
“I would say that the problem of Pediatrics is chronic and very dramatic in almost the entire country, because most hospitals do not have enough pediatricians to handle their emergencies”, he pointed out.
This situation forces “to resort to external providers, who end up visiting several hospitals and, eventually, with price disputes, because not all of them pay the same amount per hour”.
According to Horácio Guerreiro, cases of infection in health professionals reduced the response capacity in some CHUA services, where outbreaks were recorded, such as in the Orthopedics unit, where the scheduled activity was even suspended.
“However, we have survived and we have been able to give a very reasonable response in all sectors, naturally, with an overload of work for doctors in some services”, he concluded.
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