So dire is the situation at Portimão’s public hospital that the Left Bloc leader, Catarina Martins is to visit on Friday to see for herself, accompanied by her colleague, the Algarve MP, João Vasconcelos.
After the walkabout, the Left Bloc delegation will meet the management of the Hospital Center of the Algarve to get some answers as to what has gone wrong and how the situation can be resolved.
The Health Minister, Adalberto Fernandes, is expected to wind up the 2013 centralised joint management model for Portimão and Faro hospitals and allow them again to manage themselves, hopefully enabling some long-overdue improvements.
The chaos of the emergency department at Portimão hospital already has been reported on national TV. Local mayor Isilda Gomes has been highly critical of the lack of basics such as blankets, sheets, cups, bandages, and other disposable items.
Gomes says the images that have been broadcast "are shocking and more like those in an underdeveloped country," and that, "it is high time that we moved from words to actions and this was the guarantee given me by telephone by Dr. Adalberto Fernandes. As a mayor, but also as a user, I will not rest until I see the quality of health care restored in Portimão."
The Servir Portimão council opposition collective said that "the deterioration of the conditions of health care in the Algarve region will only cause surprise or shock to those who have been distracted or who only care about these kinds of problems on the eve of elections."
CDS-PP opposition MPs in parliament also have demanded to know what measures the government intends to take to “safeguard and guarantee the quality of healthcare in this hospital, which is clearly threatened." As part of the previous administration in coalition with Pedro Passos Coelho, CDS-PP MPs should be in an ideal position to answer any questions as to how the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that it makes headline news on national TV.
The Left Bloc also has submitted a number of written questions to the government about the numerous difficulties the emergency department at Portimão hospital is experiencing and asks for a figure on how much has been spent on temp agencies supplying stop-gap staff. (€47 million in the first six months of 2016)
