The parlous state of Portugal’s SNS state health care system has been laid bare by an international survey today, just as yet another team of health professionals delivers “excuses of responsibility” (meaning they are operating at such limits, that they cannot guarantee the integrity of their work, or decision making).
First to the ‘international survey’ – the Patient Reported Indicators Surveys (PaRIS), which shows that Portugal scored “substantially” below the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average in almost every health outcome indicator – with disparities being most pronounced among the country’s most vulnerable groups.
Data indicates that Portugal’s performance was not just lower, or even “substantially lower” than the OECD average across all evaluated domains, it was either the lowest, or close to lowest, among “participating countries”.
Among older people, women and those with low educational attainment and/ or experiencing economic deprivation, the Portuguese differences were more pronounced compared to the other countries.
“This situation calls for policies on inclusion, professional training and tailored responses for the most vulnerable,” say the authors.
The data revealed that less than half of the people living with chronic illness in Portugal reported being in good general health, and almost four in 10 were at risk of clinical depression.
Regarding the experience of healthcare, results were closer to the OECD average. However, significant weaknesses in coordination persisted.
Half of all patients were dissatisfied with how their care was coordinated, while half of the professionals admitted they were not sufficiently prepared to liaise effectively with other healthcare providers.
The data also revealed structural gaps in Primary Health Care (PHC): poor coordination between levels of care, low coverage of individual care plans, insufficient support for self-management, and outdated communication channels.
Although all units used electronic records, the study says that “challenges relating to interoperability, remote access and integration with other providers” persists, and that the availability of video consultations was very limited, compromising the accessibility, continuity and efficiency of care.
It also highlights structural challenges that limit the coordination capacity of the PHC, such as the lack of a designated professional to ensure care coordination throughout the patient’s care pathway and limited data sharing.
The authors further said that coordination with hospital, long-term, palliative, and mental health care was also fragile and incomplete – considering that this may compromise continuity of care.
The experts point out that the number of chronic patients has continued to rise, emphasising the urgent need to adapt healthcare systems to the needs of these individuals.
To address this diagnosis, the PaRIS study outlined three strategic pillars for change:
- a digital transformation, to ensure the modernisation of communication channels;
- personalisation of care provision, assigning a care manager to each patient and strengthening support for self-management of the condition; and
- building trust in the system, which required measuring patient experience, a consistent investment in prevention and health literacy.
Now, to the latest news of wrung-out healthcare professionals: this time it involves more than 20 surgeons operating at the IPO (cancer hospital) in Porto, who say they are being called on to “assure clinical situations out of their speciality” areas – something no cancer patient would relish hearing.
The complaints are now being addressed by the doctors’ union, and have been communicated to the Order of Physicians.
*Portugal below OECD average in nearly all health indicators
… as yet another team of surgeons declares “excuse of responsibility”
The parlous state of Portugal’s SNS state health care system has been laid bare by an international survey today, just as yet another team of health professionals delivers “excuses of responsibility” (meaning they are operating at such limits, that they cannot guarantee the integrity of their work, or decisions).
First to the ‘international survey’ – the Patient Reported Indicators Surveys (PaRIS), which shows that Portugal scored “substantially” below the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average in almost every health outcome indicator, with disparities being most pronounced among the country’s most vulnerable groups.
Data indicates that Portugal’s performance was not just lower, or substantially lower than the OECD average across all evaluated domains, it was either the lowest, or close to lowest, among “participating countries”*.
Among older people, women and those with low educational attainment or experiencing economic deprivation, the Portuguese differences were more pronounced compared to the other countries.
“This situation calls for policies on inclusion, professional training and tailored responses for the most vulnerable,” the authors said.
The data revealed that less than half of the people living with chronic illness in Portugal reported being in good general health, and almost four in 10 were at risk of clinical depression.
Regarding the experience of healthcare, the results were closer to the OECD average. However, significant weaknesses in coordination persisted.
Half of all patients were dissatisfied with how their care was coordinated, while half of the professionals admitted they were not sufficiently prepared to liaise effectively with other healthcare providers.
The data also revealed structural gaps in Primary Health Care (PHC): poor coordination between levels of care, low coverage of individual care plans, insufficient support for self-management and outdated communication channels.
Although all units used electronic records, the study said that “challenges relating to interoperability, remote access and integration with other providers” persisted, and that the availability of video consultations was very limited, compromising the accessibility, continuity and efficiency of care.
It also highlighted structural challenges that limited the coordination capacity of the PHC, such as the lack of a designated professional to ensure care coordination throughout the patient’s care pathway and limited data sharing.
The authors further said that coordination with hospital, long-term, palliative, and mental health care was also fragile and incomplete, considering that this may compromise continuity of care.
The experts point out that the number of chronic patients has continued to rise, emphasising the urgent need to adapt healthcare systems to the needs of these individuals.
To address this diagnosis, the PaRIS study outlined three strategic pillars for change:
- a digital transformation, to ensure the modernisation of communication channels;
- personalisation of care provision, assigning a care manager to each patient and strengthening support for self-management of the condition; and
- building trust in the system, which required measuring patient experience, a consistent investment in prevention and health literacy.
Now, to the latest news of wrung-out healthcare professionals: this time it involves more than 20 surgeons operating at the IPO (cancer hospital) in Porto, who say they are being called on to “assure clinical situations out of their specialities” – something no cancer patient would relish hearing.
The complaints are now being addressed by the doctors’ union, and have been communicated to the Order of Physicians.
*Participating countries as from Portugal: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Wales (United Kingdom), Romania, and Saudi Arabia.
Source: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
