This Wednesday, PS, BE, PCP, Livre, and PAN criticized the Government’s recently announced health measures. They argued that these measures would cannibalize the SNS and increase investment in the private sector. They also claimed that the minister effectively acknowledged the failure of the emergency plan.
Minister of Health’s Press Conference Viewed as an Admission of Failure
After the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, presented the PS’s Health Emergency and Transformation Programme in parliament, MP Marina Gonçalves criticized the press conference. She viewed it not as a review, but as an assumption of blame for the expectations created by the Government—expectations she believes they knew they could not fulfill.
Read More About: PS Leader Accuses Government of Failing the National Health Service
The socialist said that this program failed and the Minister of Health came to show this. He said that the response to the failure of the plan is a worsening of the conditions of the NHS. Furthermore, he clarified his stance by saying:
As a solution for the future, what was presented to us was a set of measures that, instead of solving the problem, cannibalize the NHS, invest in the private sector without there being a single reference to health professionals, to investment in the NHS.
Lack of Progress Indicators and Government Strategy Criticized
Marina Gonçalves criticized the Government for not presenting indicators on waiting times, emergency room closures, ambulance births, or the number of family doctors. He condemned the government and said:
What the Government does not want to admit is that the strategy and the defined priority of destroying what had been done, of creating a new plan and of creating this expectation that they would solve the problem only worsened what is an essential vector of our social state.
The Socialist MP stated that the PS never said that health problems would be resolved in three or four months. According to him those who created this expectation were the Government, the minister, and the prime minister.
Opposition Parties Voice Concerns Over NHS and Private Sector Investments
The parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc, Fabian Figueiredo, considered that the NHS and access to healthcare have worsened and the the situation is chaotic. He accused the Government of having precisely that objective. He argued:
The Government has no desire whatsoever to improve access to healthcare, the conditions for users to access the NHS, because the Government’s strategy is to increase transfers from the NHS to the private sector and increase agreements with the private sector, and that is what the Minister announced again today.
The Bloco member also emphasized two BE proposals aimed at retaining health professionals in the SNS. These include a 20% salary increase for all staff and an additional 40% for doctors who work exclusively within the SNS.
PCP and Livre Express Concerns Over Government’s Privatization Efforts
Moreover, PCP deputy António Filipe stated that the press conference of the Minister of Health represents an implicit confession of the Government’s inability to resolve the problems of the SNS. He added that this comes amid a deepening crisis in the service.
From the communists’ perspective, the executive revealed plans for financial transfers to the private sector. This includes increasing the State’s contribution to ultrasound scans carried out by private groups. Additionally, it involves opening the creation of family health units to both the private and social sectors.
The PCP defended the hiring of professionals and the guarantee of attractiveness for these careers. He considers that without this, the problems will not be resolved.
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Similarly, Livre MP Paulo Muacho reiterated that the party has long warned that the Government’s program marks the beginning of the privatization of the SNS. He also emphasized the need to assess the actual degree of implementation of certain measures, such as performing surgeries.
The MP accused the minister of not being willing to negotiate with the unions. He criticized by saying:
It is true that no one expected the Government to resolve all the problems of the NHS in three months. We should not have expected the Government to make them worse.
Inês Sousa Real, the sole deputy for PAN, argued that the Government’s announcements are just another handful of nothing. She insisted that even type C family health units, despite being necessary, should not be privatized and called for investment to strengthen the SNS.
