16 doctors from the Bissaya Barreto maternity hospital plead guilty

Sixteen doctors working at the Bissaya Barreto maternity hospital in Coimbra have pleaded not guilty, the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) revealed, warning that the overload at that unit increases the risk of clinical error.

In a statement, the FNAM indicates that the document presented by doctors from the Obstetrics Emergency Service B of the Coimbra Local Health Unit (ULS) denounces “an unacceptable degradation of working conditions” and a “compromised quality” of care provided to pregnant women, women in labor and postpartum women in the region.

The FNAM recalls that, in a context of “structural and organizational deficiencies”, the repeated closure of the Obstetrics Emergency Service at the Leiria and Aveiro ULS, on several days of the week in the summer, without the reinforcement of medical teams at the Coimbra ULS, is causing an “unsustainable overload” for professionals at Bissaya Barreto.

“This situation compromises the safety of medical procedures and increases the risk of clinical error, with potentially tragic consequences,” he insists.

Among the complaints presented by doctors are the almost daily lack of beds for hospitalization of high-risk pregnant women, women in labor and postpartum women, and “frequent and unnecessary” transfers between the Obstetrics emergency services at the ULS in Coimbra, “with associated clinical risks”.

They also point to the almost exclusive referral of users via the SNS 24 line to Obstetrics Service B, worsening its overload, and the registration of users without prior contact to check vacancies, which results in delays and transfers.

Doctors explain that pregnant and postpartum women are often transported by INEM to Obstetrics Service B without prior contact, "contrary to current guidelines."

The FNAM sent a letter to the Board of Directors of the ULS of Coimbra, demanding that, in view of the excuses presented and the complaints made by the doctors, “concrete and immediate” measures to resolve the problems identified be communicated urgently.

He also blames Prime Minister Luís Montenegro for the deterioration of the National Health Service, insisting that the most serious consequence is the “real risk to the lives of women and newborns” from north to south of the country.