Exonerate nurse-director government of ULSAC and appoints new head

A decision is contained in a resolution of the Council of Ministers, published today in Diário da República (DR), which states that Emanuel Boieiro is exonerated by proposal of the Executive Director of the National Health Service and “based on criteria of mere convenience”.

In this resolution, the Government mentions that there is “a framework of institutional conflict with a relevant impact on the functioning of the nursing leadership, on interprofessional relations and on the articulation between the nurse-director and the other members of the Board of Directors (CA)” of the ULSAC.

At the same time, one can read in the decision consulted by the Lusa agency, there is a “significant degradation of institutional trust relations” between the nurse-director and the other members of the AC, which is “accompanied by a climate of distrust and increasing fragility of collaboration and internal articulation”.

To perform these same functions as executive vowel of CA and nurse-director of ULSAC, the executive led by Luís Montenegro appointed Nelson Duarte Valverde Mestrinho, alluding to his “identity, experience and professional competence”.

According to the government, Nelson Mestrinho, who was also authorised to be a professor of higher education, “is for the remainder of the current term of office of the members of the current Board of Directors” of ULSAC.

The person in charge is licensed in Nursing from the University of Évora, specialist in Rehabilitation Nursing, with graduate degrees in Coordination of Health Units and Health Management, and attends his master's degree.

Nurse since 2006, began professional activity at the Hospital do Espírito Santo de Évora, belonging to ULSAC, and until now was the coordinator of the Office of Quality and Certification of this local health unit.

On May 12 of this year, the newspaper Observador reported that the then nurse-director of ULSAC Emanuel Boieiro had been “targeted by 15 complaints for ‘fear-based management standard’”.

According to the newspaper, “several nurses” reported to the CA of ULSAC, as well as “the department of work of that unit”, situations of “moral harassment, threats, injuries, withdrawal of competences, intimidation, public humiliation, violation of rights or coercion carried out by Emanuel Boieiro”.

At the time, questioned by Lusa, ULSAC confirmed, in a written reply, that it received complaints against the nurse-director, and also the Order of Nurses (OE) revealed that it received an anonymous complaint concerning the same leader.

Both entities did not disclose the content of any complaint or complaint received.

To the Observer, on that date, the OE bastonary, Luís Barreira, said that the order was investigating the case and had triggered the disciplinary body, while the General Inspection of Health Activities (IAS) confirmed the reception of the “nurses’ complaints” of the Local Health Unit.