Vacancies due to open mid-June
Portugal’s caretaker government has authorised the hiring of 200 more pre-hospital emergency technicians (TEPH) for the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), the national ambulance service – doubling the number hired at the beginning of the year.
The new hiring competition is due to open in mid-June.
In January, president of INEM Sérgio Janeiro told Lusa that a total of 400 new TEPHs could be hired this year – more than a 40% increase on the number of TEPHs at the end of 2024.
“The 200 new TEPH to be hired will reinforce the care and triage of medical emergencies in the Urgent Patient Guidance Centres (CODU) and ensure the operation of the Institute’s various pre-hospital emergency resources,” reads the government’s latest announcement.
INEM describes TEPH as “fundamental health professionals in the country’s medical emergency network, because they ensure the first response to pre-hospital medical emergency situations.
“Their action can be decisive for the survival of people who are victims of sudden illness or trauma” – which of course is exactly what the union has been saying for years as it struggles with staffing numbers.
Now, with the addition of the new intake, INEM will increase its TEPH staff from around 1,100 to 1,300.
At the end of last year, Sérgio Janeiro emphasised that this kind of progress gave “more encouragement to continue and to trust” that 2025 would be “a turning point, both in the quality of assistance provided and in the trust that the population can continue to have in INEM.”
Last December, an agreement was reached with the Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians Union (STEPH) that allowed all technicians to receive an increase of €256 in their monthly salary from January.
The dissatisfaction of the pre-hospital emergency technicians had culminated in an overtime strike that began on October 30 and on November 4 coincided with the Civil Service strike and forced the stoppage of various means of assistance, causing delays of hours in answering calls to INEM, and resulting in several reports of unnecessary deaths.
It was this drama that prompted the government to enter negotiations.
Source material: LUSA
