A petition with around 10 thousand signatures demanding the construction of the new Algarve Central Hospital was delivered today to the Assembly of the Republic by Cristóvão Norte, president of PSD Algarve, who is also the author and first subscriber of this petition.
With the name “New Hospital Central do Algarve already”, the document was delivered during a hearing granted by Augusto Santos Silva, in which the president of the Assembly of the Republic will be represented by his deputy Adão Silva.
In the petition, Cristóvão Norte, who was a deputy to the Assembly of the Republic between 2011 and 2022, claims that «the creation of a new Algarve Central Hospital constitutes an incontrovertible need for the region».
«Uncontroversial because, since 2003, all Governments, without exception, parties, deputies, mayors, orders, unions, among others, have highlighted that this is a fundamental infrastructure. Necessity, because the Algarve lacks a modern hospital infrastructure that provides greater differentiation in medical care and that promotes the establishment of human resources in the region. This is not only a social imperative, but also an economic one, which fits into any well-founded thinking about the future of the region», he argued.
The also president of the Municipal Assembly of Faro recalls that «a group has been appointed to study and prepare the bases for launching the infrastructure. This is a first step that cannot be taken back. We all remember that the first stone was laid and then everything went back. This petition is the voice of the region that does not accept that the process does not move forward».
Cristóvão Norte believes that without a new hospital «the medical course in the Algarve is at risk», highlighting that this infrastructure «was defined as the second priority at national level and in the meantime other hospitals have already advanced and the Algarve has not».
«Access to healthcare is terrible in the Algarve. A new hospital is a necessary and vital step, but not sufficient. There are other crucial aspects to providing the region with adequate healthcare, such as coordination with primary care and with private and private institutions", he concluded.
Petition “New Algarve Central Hospital Now”
Under the right to petition provided for in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and in Law no. 43/90, of 10 August, the undersigned submit this petition, entitled «New Hospital Central do Algarve Já», to the Assembly of the Republic and the Government.
Excellency Mr President of the Assembly of the Republic,
Hon. Mr Prime Minister,
The creation of a new Algarve Central Hospital constitutes an undeniable necessity for the region. Uncontroversial because, since 2003, all governments, without exception, parties, deputies, mayors, orders, unions, among others, have highlighted that this is a fundamental infrastructure. Necessity, because the Algarve lacks a modern hospital infrastructure that provides greater differentiation in medical care and that promotes the establishment of human resources in the region. This is not only a social imperative, but also an economic one, which fits into any well-founded thinking about the future of the region.
Even in 2005, the current Government commissioned a study from the Porto Management School, led by Prof. Dr Daniel Bessa, to organize the priorities for the construction of new hospital units. From this study, which considered a wide range of parameters, which included costs, accessibility, quality of offer, among others, the Hospital Central do Algarve was ranked in 2nd place, this list having been approved by Order 12891/2006. Earlier, in 2003, a strategic agreement had been signed that proposed a location for the future unit.
Following this commitment, the care profile and size of the new Algarve Hospital were approved in 2007, with the opening of competitive procedures and the public presentation in the following year, which was attended by the then Prime Minister. , José Sócrates.
Negotiations were also opened with qualified consortia, but the process did not make progress.
In 2011, the Government suspended the planned hospitals, in compliance with the rule contained in the Financial Assistance Memorandum of Understanding, in which the State was obliged to reassess all major public works.
In the 2017 State Budget, the Government planned to launch a new generation of hospitals: Hospital de Todos os Santos (Lisbon), Seixal and Évora. These hospitals were ranked 1st, 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the 2006 technical study. Only the new Hospital Central do Algarve – which was ranked 2nd – did not advance, with the Minister of Health, Adalberto Campos Fernandes at the time, made statements in order to postpone its completion to a date after 2019, despite not having given any justification for the decision to exclude the new Hospital do Algarve from the list of priorities. Although it is included in the Government program and has even been included in State budgets in recent years, the fact is that the infrastructure has not yet advanced, and there is no known decision-making procedure for this to become a reality.
This postponement is highly harmful to the interests of the region and the Algarve, but also to the country, because:
• Disregards the importance of a new hospital to attract and retain human resources, particularly doctors in specialties from which the region suffers chronically;
• Ignores the importance of responding to accelerated demographic growth and a notable evolution of tourism, which increasingly considers factors such as security and available health care;
• Devalues the obligation to offer greater differentiation in the clinical services provided and, therefore, places the region in greater dependence on other hospitals, particularly located in Lisbon. Patients must be able to be treated in the region;
• Contradicts the commitment to medical teaching at the University of Algarve, which lacks an academic center of excellence that strengthens the conditions for teaching and research development. Therefore, it is still paradoxical to postulate the ideas of research centers and not invest in the infrastructures capable of carrying them out;
• The Algarve Central Hospital is a prerequisite for strengthening the economic and social dynamics of the region, which sees it as an insurmountable element for the realization of its present and future options.
It is, on the other hand, an incomprehensible decision, because:
• There is no technical basis, as there is no study that points in the opposite direction to that of 2006. Political decisions must be based on technical assessments, which is not the case;
• Conflicts with the assumption that the region would be a priority for intervention in the hospital field, as it has been proven that the Algarve suffers from structural bottlenecks that are far from being overcome;
• The parameters for measuring healthcare in hospitals in the region have been suffering year after year.
In view of the above, the undersigned demand that, as soon as possible and with the sense of urgency that the matter calls for, a decision should be taken to move forward with the new central hospital in the Algarve.
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