By: CECÍLIA PIRES
REPORTS THAT cancer patients have to wait on average six months for surgery in the Algarve have this week been challenged by the region’s health authority.
The true waiting time, according to the president of Administração Regional de Saúde, is nearer 45 days and the six months quoted in sections of the Portuguese press last week as part of national statistics was based on inaccurate calculations.
Dr Rui Lourenço told The Resident that the report quoted last week “had a few errors that influenced the study results in the worst way”.
One was the way the information was disclosed to the national information system, meaning all patients were being included, even those receiving chemotherapy and other treatments or scheduled for these and, consequently, they needed to be revaluated in terms of surgery.
He added that the timing of the report also led to a false picture, as it based its conclusions on statistics from 2006 and not from the first half of 2007.
“A six month difference can influence, seriously, report information,” said Dr Rui Lourenço. He added that the present system puts patients with cancer on a certain list, depending on the gravity and priority of their pathology.
System
The information is then sent by regional services to be registered in a system called Sistema Informático de Gestão de Inscritos para Cirurgia, also known as SIGLIC. This is nationwide, although its data is regional.
However, while in treatment, the hospital services must inform the national system so that the waiting time is suspended. That way the patient will not be considered as a waiting listed patient.
These procedures, said Dr Rui Lourenço, were not being followed and that is one of the reasons for the gap between the data.
Portuguese health regulations for patients with cancer state that the average waiting time can only be 12 months for cases not considered to be a priority. In more urgent cases, the waiting time allowed is only nine months, with a four month maximum in the most serious cases.
If a patient reaches 75 per cent of the waiting time for his or her category, the system must give the person the chance of having surgery in a private hospital.
The country’s health system operates a surgery-credit scheme, which is accepted by any hospital unit in Portugal.
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