The gynecology and obstetrics emergency service and the birth ward of the Portimão hospital will be closed at the weekend, every 15 days, until the end of March, according to a statement from the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service.
In the Algarve, the maternity ward of the Faro of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve.
According to information released by the Executive Directorate of the SNS, the maternity hospital in Portimão closes between 8 am on Friday and 8 am on Monday from 10 February (until 12). It will close again on the 24th, 25th and 26th of February, as well as from the 10th to the 12th of March and from the 24th to the 26th of the same month (see infographics).
The statement recalls that the alternating closures of various gynecology and obstetrics emergency services and delivery blocks in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region are also maintained until the end of the first quarter, as was decided earlier this month.
The Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS) says that, “due to the direct impact it has on pregnant women, newborns and their families, the network of emergency gynecology and obstetrics services deserves priority attention, and it is essential to safeguard the principles of equity, quality, readiness, humanization and predictability of care provided in the SNS».
«The results of this strategic plan will be evaluated by DE-SNS, during the first quarter» and will form the basis of «decisions for the following quarters, namely for the summer», adds the communiqué.
«Portugal stands out, on the international scene, for the achievements achieved in some health indicators over the last 40 years, namely one of the lowest perinatal mortality rates in the world. This reality was only possible thanks to the existence of a National Health Service that has always privileged the safety of care provided to pregnant women and children in view of the number of places where, in the past, it was acceptable to carry out deliveries», he stresses.
The new Executive Directorate of the SNS states that one of its «central missions» is «the strengthening of networking between the teams of hospital institutions and primary health care, as well as the timely strategic planning of the response».
The DE-SNS is also presented as "the body responsible for establishing the appropriate strategy to ensure a culture of predictability, safety and trust in the use of health services, as well as a use that maximizes the available resources and induces better planning".
Click here to open the infographic in PDF, in more detail.
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