Olhão assumes health competences, but asks the Government for more family doctors

The Council of Olhão will assume responsibility for the maintenance and management of the Health Center as of 1 February, as well as for the operational assistants who work there, after officially assuming new powers in this area, on Monday.  

António Pina, mayor of Olhão, took the opportunity to convey both to Minister Manuel Pizarro, with whom he signed the transfer of competences, and to the Secretary of State for Health, Ricardo Mestre, «his concerns» for «the fact that there are still 7 people from Olhão without access to a family doctor».

During the afternoon of the 23rd, the mayor and his team accompanied Ricardo Mestre on a visit to the Health Centre, where the official «exchanged impressions with the professionals and listened to their expectations regarding the process of decentralization of competences in the municipalities in the area of ​​Health ».

On the way, he conveyed to the Secretary of State the need to reinforce medical staff in the municipality.

«As far as the Municipality is concerned, and although medical and nursing staff do not fall within the scope of municipal competences, we will do everything to create conditions so that all people in Olhão have a family doctor», considered the mayor from Olhão.

«António Miguel Pina referred, specifically, to the availability, by the municipality, of a space where another Family Health Unit could be created, an availability that was transmitted this Monday to the maximum responsible of the Ministry of Health », according to the Chamber.

As for the transfer of competences in the area of ​​Government Health, it determines that from next week the municipality «will have competences in the area of ​​management and maintenance of properties and the vehicle fleet, as well as, with regard to human resources , of operational assistants'.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the “Saúde Aberta” initiative, which brought the Minister of Health and his two Secretaries of State to the Algarve, to speak with mayors and health professionals from the 16 municipalities of the Algarve.