PRIME MINISTER José Sócrates and Health Minister António Correia de Campos were in Faro at the weekend to discuss the planned Hospital Central do Algarve but the meeting was dogged by criticism about the lack of organisation and concrete facts about the project.
Sócrates said the hospital, which will replace the existing Faro Hospital, is due to be open by May 2012, with construction expected to begin in 2009. He said it was also due to be located in Parque das Cidades, near the Algarve Stadium. With an estimated 500 beds, it is hoped that the new hospital will reduce hospital waiting times and emergency appointments as well as increase the amount of pre-booked appointments.
Hospital Central do Algarve is due to have a total of 46 different departments including seven specialist units, which do not currently exist at Faro Hospital.
However, it is still unknown how many staff will be needed and whether there will be 24-hour emergency care provided. Faro Câmara President, José Apolinário criticised the government’s lack of organisation and said there were still too many doubts and unanswered questions surrounding the project. There are “more doubts than certainties”, he said.
The project is expected to cost around 250 million euros and part of this will be spent on converting Faro hospital into a unit for people in need of long-term medical treatment and a family medical centre, with oncology, neonatal intensive care and accident and emergency units, among other family related medical departments.
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