A group of newly-qualified specialist doctors is reported to be sending an open letter to President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and prime minister António Costa this week, lamenting the fact that as many as 700 professionals have been waiting months to start work in the struggling SNS State health system.
According to Lusa, the doctors say there are 710 specialists facing financial hardship and uncertainty after having dedicated between 11 to 13 years of their lives getting qualified.
This isn’t a ‘new situation’. The letter refers to health minister Adalberto Campos Ferreira being well aware of it, yet dragging his heels over creating the necessary openings.
Indeed, calls for medical staff were expected in May and November last year. They never happened.
The doctors claim this institutional disregard for people desperate to work is also a form of disrespect for patients, hundreds of whom languish for hours in A&E waiting rooms, not to mention the ones waiting for operations or consultations.
Only last month, the SIM doctors’ syndicate reported that some patients have to wait up to four years for a consultation (click here).
For now, Adalberto Campos Ferreira has stuck to his mantra that the recruitment drives will be taking place “within days”, and prime minister Costa, when questioned in parliament, has said the places in hospitals will be ‘opened up’ “when the time is right”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
