Death of users due to lack of care are “extreme gravity”

O mayor of Portimão, Álvaro Bila, said today that the cases of alleged deaths due to lack of care at the city hospital are “extreme gravity” and require “urgent measures” to ensure its normal functioning.

These are the deaths of two users who went to the Hospital de Portimão and lost their lives without having been treated, in episodes that the Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Algarve determined the opening of internal investigations to find out in what circumstances they gave and ascertain responsibilities.

“What is being known about the Emergency Service of Portimão Hospital is extremely serious. After the death of an 87-year-old man, allegedly after 12 hours of waiting, a second case now arises: a patient who has been about 24 hours without medical observation. To this are added the complaints of nurses about serious problems of organization and operation of the service ", contextualized the mayor, in a statement.

The mayor of Portimão expressed his condolences to the families, expressed his solidarity with “all health professionals who work daily under enormous pressure” and refused to accept that this is normal, “nor that the population is left unanswered” in the hospital of Portimão.

“A hospital exists to care for and save lives. Lack of means, organisation or coordination shall not endanger patient safety. Nurses' complaints must be taken seriously. The professionals have to be heard ", defended the mayor.

Álvaro Bila therefore asked the Board of Directors of the ULS of the Algarve and the Ministry of Health to establish responsibilities in cases reported and to “take urgent measures to ensure the normal functioning of the Hospital de Portimão”, announcing that he will ask for an urgent meeting to the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, and the administration of the ULS of the Algarve.

On Wednesday, the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS do Algarve) announced the establishment of an inquiry to determine the circumstances of the death of a man who was waiting for assistance at the Portimão Emergency Service.

The General Inspection of Health Activities (IGAS) also confirmed to Lusa that it will set up an inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the death, early on Wednesday, of the 87-year-old man, after about 10 hours of waiting in the Emergency Service of the Portimão Hospital.

After a long wait, the user did not respond to the call, at around 04:00, and was then found by nurses “unconscious in the waiting room”, explained the president of the Algarve ULS.

In a reply sent today to Lusa, the Algarve ULS confirmed the receipt of an internal exhibition on the operation of the urgency of the hospital in Portimão and announced that “all the situations described therein led to the immediate opening of an internal inquiry” to ascertain the facts and responsibilities.

The ULS considered that it was “precipitated to make more considerations” on this subject until the facts were established and stated that there is a “prolonged stay of users in hospitals for social reasons” that hinder the access of others to services.

“ As an operational measure and response, to relieve the space for these patients in the Emergency Service, particularly in the area of clinical decision-making, the Department Directors and the Department Directors of various specialties were asked to speed up the transfer of these users to the wards of their services,” ULS announced, which seeks to “mitigate the problem” of social cases in emergencies.