“We are working to optimise the few doctors we have,” said ULS clinical director
The Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS) has guaranteed it is doing “everything possible” to avoid closing essential healthcare services in the region.
Public health services across Portugal continue to struggle with limited health professional teams, a situation which becomes even more worrisome during the summer in the Algarve when the region’s population trebles.
“We are working to optimise the few doctors we have,” said José Manuel Almeida, the clinical director of the Algarve ULS, in a statement sent to Lusa news agency.
The doctor shortages are especially significant in certain specialties, he warned, explaining that health authorities have to prepare “more organised responses” to these challenges.
The main challenge remains recruiting specialist doctors and ensuring coverage at A&E departments at Faro and Portimão hospitals. Unlike other regions where patients can be taken to another nearby A&E department if the closest is closed, the Algarve is essentially “isolated,” he explained, adding that the nearest emergency services are “300 kilometres away.”
To address this, the ULS is collaborating with the Ministry of Health to make the Algarve more attractive to medical professionals and with local mayors to provide housing incentives, as the shortage of houses and high rents pose the largest roadblocks for doctors to come work in the Algarve.
Regarding paediatric emergency services at Faro and Portimão hospitals, Almeida assured that specialised care is always guaranteed with “a paediatrician available” in the Algarve. “General practitioners working with the ULS are qualified to treat children, but given the limited number of pediatricians, a paediatrician is always present in paediatric A&Es for tasks that only they can perform,” José Manuel Almeida said.
“After numerous meetings with various stakeholders, we decided to have a permanent paediatrician in the Algarve, not just in one specific unit,” Almeida said. The ULS/Algarve is working to hire more paediatricians, even on a mobility basis, and once available, the paediatric emergency at Portimão hospital will reopen permanently.
“I cannot guarantee a paediatrician in Portimão at all times because there aren’t enough. Although it’s not a Basic Paediatric Emergency Service, it can have support from the childbirth unit’s paediatrician,” Almeida added. The situation in Portimão is being managed carefully, ensuring that children receive care and minimising necessary transfers to Faro, where urgent care is entrusted to the available paediatrician.
Source: LUSA
