Questioned in parliament today, António Nunes, president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters explained how just the Ministry of Health owes corporations more than €28 million for ‘non-urgent patient transport’ which firefighters perform, helping chronically ill people attend regular hospital appointments. “Coimbra hospitals alone owes the fire brigades €2.5 million”, he said, and the health service’s debt to the Pernes fire brigade, in the district of Santarém, is €900,000 euros. “There’s no (entity) that can maintain a situation like this (…) Nunes stressed there will only be a robust and qualified firefighting sector if debts are paid on time, “if INEM allocates the 150 missing ambulances we need” and if permanent funding for firefighting associations next year comes to “around €46.6 million”.
Health ministry owes fire stations more than €28 million for non-urgent patient transport
