Health Minister Manuel Pizarro estimated today that the situation regarding waiting times in hospitals, especially in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, will only ease next week, the first of January.
«I hope that this will begin to ease in the first week of January, but this is something that we have to evaluate on a day-to-day basis», Manuel Pizarro told journalists today at Casa da Música, in Porto, on the sidelines of the delivery of the Ricardo Jorge Merit Distinctions.
According to the official, «usually, these exacerbations of respiratory infections occur for periods of two/three weeks», and «since mid-December, gradually, a worsening of the situation with regard to adults», after a peak in children recorded in November.
For the minister, contributing to the peaks in service that led, for example, to a maximum waiting time of 18 hours at the Amadora-Sintra hospital, «it is no stranger to the fact that Lisbon and Vale do Tejo are the region of the country where we have more difficulty with family doctors».
Manuel Pizarro acknowledged that the situation is negative and does not “leave him at all calm”, but highlighted that “there are other hospitals in the region that have managed to provide a good response”.
The minister once again appealed to people, before going to a hospital, to use all available means available, including health centers and the SNS 24 line.
Manuel Pizarro also rejected “an alarmist speech” regarding the situation in the emergency room.
«We have difficulties. These difficulties are common at this time of year, which does not make them any more acceptable, but they are common, and we will overcome these difficulties, as always, with great effort, with the National Health Service network», he predicted.
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