Pediatric interns at the Hospital de Faro condemn, in a letter sent to various entities, the “attempts at coercion” to which they are subject to carry out emergencies in the Algarve, even when they are interning far from this region.
“Pediatric interns at the Hospital de Faro come hereby to condemn this attempt at coercion and clarify that the shortage of Pediatricians in the Algarve region cannot, and never could, be filled by interns, given that they are in training”, according to the letter that the Lusa agency had access to.
Fourteen interns with specific training in Pediatrics at the Faro of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) sign the letter that was sent to the Executive Committee of the National Health Service (SNS), to the president of the Ordem dos Médicos and to the board of directors of CHUA, among other entities.
These doctors, who are still in a period of postgraduate training that leads to obtaining the specialty, claim that they were “informed by unofficial means” that it was proposed that 4th and 5th year interns do their periods (at least 12 hours/week) at CHUA, regardless of your internship location.
They then explain that the 4th and 5th year interns, “mostly, are on internship in other hospital centers, given that the CHUA is not suitable for them”.
According to the note, “some inmates are currently in Lisbon (300 km from Faro), in Coimbra (450 km from Faro) or in Porto (550 km from Faro)” and ensure that this displacement, if applicable, “would cause great disruption in the daily life and training of each of these inmates”.
Before taking this position, the 14 doctors contacted the Sindicato Independent dos Médicos, which gave its opinion based on an informative circular of May 5, 2017, which was sanctioned by the Ordem dos Médicos.
“Within the scope of the normal working period, intern doctors who are attending Specific Training and who carry out an internship in a Service other than the placement must ensure the 12 weekly hours of emergency service integrated in a team of the Service in which they are carrying out an internship , whenever it has an organized urgency”, according to one of the paragraphs of that document.
Another cited regulation stipulates that “internal doctors are subject to the work organization of the entity that owns the service or of the establishment responsible for administering the training, and the respective working hours must be established and programmed in accordance with the work regime of the special medical career and the activities and objectives of the respective training programs”.
The 5th year interns also state that “they were pressured to assume the role of Pediatrician and head of the Pediatrics Emergency team, despite expressing their non-consent”.
“The interns are the future of the Pediatric Service and as such they should be cherished and protected in order to dream of a future at CHUA. A future that at this moment seems uncertain”, say the 14 inmates at the end of the letter.
The SNS is struggling with a shortage of doctors, a situation that has led it to resort more and more to these professionals who are still in training.
In the Algarve, it is common for pediatric services to close during the weekend, with users having to travel to Faro to be serviced.
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