Fnam: diploma provides for "forced mobilization" of doctors

The National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) said this Tuesday that the decree-law that the Government will approve for the creation of regional emergency units foresees the “forced mobilization” of professionals to other local health units.

The diploma from the Ministry of Health, which Fnam says it received at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, “confirms the attempt to coerce doctors into regional emergency rooms,” the union said in a statement.

At issue is a decree-law that establishes, for the first time, the centralized operation of external emergencies at a regional level, which is being negotiated with the unions, as it involves matters of remuneration, incentives and supplements to be paid to health professionals.

The Government's intention was already expressed to the unions in a face-to-face meeting that took place last week, with a second meeting scheduled for Friday, but online.

In practice, regional emergencies, which do not currently exist in the National Health Service (SNS), involve concentrating, in a given region, the provision of external emergency care in just one hospital.

At the end of September, the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, denied the existence of a decree to force the mobility of health professionals and announced that the Government was preparing a diploma that would have to be negotiated with union structures.

Speaking to Lusa this Tuesday, the president of Fnam said that she had only received a few articles of the decree-law — those that must be subject to collective bargaining — and criticized the Government's "negotiating bad faith" for "moving forward with a consummated act" that consists of "imposing" on doctors to move from their hospital to another to ensure regional emergencies.

Joana Bordalo e Sá warned, however, that doctors covered by collective bargaining agreements signed by Fnam cannot be forced to work in regional emergency departments, as they are protected from being transferred to another municipality outside their place of work.

"What's at stake is not just a legal issue, but a political decision that threatens the NHS. This coercive measure doesn't serve doctors, who will be forced to terminate contracts in greater numbers," the federation argued, adding that regional emergency rooms also don't serve the population, which "will be permanently cut off from local services in several regions."

The creation of these regional emergency units, made up of teams shared between hospitals, is a measure provided for in the Government Program.

The document emphasizes that priority will be given to the most critical specialties—obstetrics and pediatrics—“namely through the creation of regional emergency departments with health teams shared between hospitals.”

Hospitals on the Setúbal Peninsula have experienced the greatest constraints due to a lack of professionals to staff obstetrics and gynecology shifts, leading to the recurring temporary closure of emergency services.

To solve this problem, the Government announced that it intends to create a regional obstetrics emergency unit, with the Garcia de Orta Hospital operating 24/7 and the Setúbal Hospital receiving cases referred by SNS 24 and INEM.

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