Emergency services will now give admission and triage priority to patients transported in ambulances and referred by INEM, according to instructions from the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS).
In a note released today, in which it justifies the need to reorganize emergency services with the refusal of many doctors to work overtime, DE-SNS warns of the possibility of "additional constraints" in emergencies and asks patients that, in case of an acute illness, call the SNS24 Line in advance (808 242 424).
In urgent or emergency situations, he says, they should contact 112, which will forward the call to INEM.
«Given the constraints of the current situation, there may be increased constraints on access to emergency services, with a main impact on less serious cases», says DE-SNS.
The Executive Management says that the unavailability expressed by «a relevant number of doctors» to do overtime work calls into question the current operating model of Emergency Services, forcing a reorganization of the response to ensure access.
More than 2.500 doctors have already presented excuses for not working overtime beyond the 150 hours per year to which they are obliged.
In the note released today, DE-SNS recognizes that the National Health Service is going through a “critical period of its existence” and that it has been following the situation “with concern”.
The temporary reorganization defined by DE-SNS, which foresees that, until the 18th, more than 30 emergencies of various specialties will operate with limitations, will be reviewed every week.
The DE-SNS also says that primary healthcare must be reorganized and ensure periods of unscheduled care for patients with acute pathology, particularly those sent by the SNS24, and that hospital healthcare must reinforce responses to cases of “ exacerbation of chronic patients”, already followed in the respective hospital units, whether in unscheduled consultation, day hospital or home hospitalization.
Comments