The opposition this Friday warned of the downgrading and lack of attractiveness of the SNS, criticizing long waiting lists and about 1.7 million users without a GP, with the government guaranteeing it works better.
In a question to the government promoted by IL about the current state of the National Health Service (SNS), PSD deputy Rui Cristina believed that the government “has worsened the SNS over the past eight years”, and defended that the service “sick and sick”, with as an example “more than one million and 750 thousand users without a GP”.
“In this context of the SNS crisis, the PSD presented a series of initiatives that aim to help the SNS, and above all to increase the accessibility of the Portuguese to health care. (…) , which is frankly for the Government to copy or misuse at least some of them”said the Social Democrat.
Deputy Filipe Melo, from Chega, in turn, believed that the SNS “is in a coma”, with “many cases in the country” where users are waiting “months, if not years, for oncology or cardiology consultations”.
Filipe Melo also claimed that in the SNS “millions of euros are spent on health units for transsexuals”, statements that caused a moment of tension at the end of the debate, with the Minister of Health describing them as “disgusting” and “extreme gravity”.
For IL, Deputy Bernardo Blanco opined that the PS can not only be proud of the creation of the SNS, but also “proud of sinking it”, adding that this Friday the Portuguese do not have “universal access to health care, but more and more on waiting lists”.
“The time has come to present the discussion of different models to the Portuguese and IL, in the coming weeks, will start presenting the Portuguese with a basic health law that puts the user at the center of the debate, in the solution”announced IL leader Rui Rocha.
PS deputy Joana Lima took the view that IL is concerned about the “private, private, private” sector, presenting several statistics to show that the government is strengthening the SNS and presenting “good bills” on health.
“We are proud that the Portuguese feel that the SNS is strong, that it serves them when they need it, that it treats them well and that it saves many, many lives”he said.
On the left of the PS, PCP and BE accused IL of wanting to end the SNS, but also criticized the government, with communist deputy João Dias defending that the public health service has “deteriorated” and its health workers are “devalued”.
“This is not a speech about chaos, but a speech about the success of government policy. The minister knows very well that the more we buy from the private sector, the more dependent we are on the private sector”criticized.
For BE, deputy Isabel Pires believed that the consequences of a liberal health policy are “put into practice by the PS”.
“Access to health care is becoming increasingly unequal. In fact, SNS users are increasingly paying for health services out of pocket, as IL advocates in its mandatory health insurance system”he claimed.
The PAN’s lone delegate, Inês de Sousa Real, said she fears the performance-based pay model is “driving physicians further away from the USF model [Unidades de Saúde Familiar]”, asking the minister how he will ensure that careers become more attractive.
Livre’s sole deputy, Rui Tavares, asked Pizarro why the Ministry of Health, which is “one of the largest property owners”, is not offering “housing for young doctors” to combat the shortage of health workers.
“I can say here that we are working on it now, in a first location on the Alentejo coast, (…) we have some hospital equipment that we are going to convert into housing for healthcare workers”Pizarro replied, leading to applause from the PS bench.
During the debate, the minister presented statistics to ensure that the SNS works better, criticizing the right to choose data that paints a negative image of the SNS, but ignoring the data that shows improvements in the service.
Pizarro also said he disagreed with the idea, propagated by the left, “that the government somehow favors the private sector”. other sectors”.
“The SNS is indispensable for the protection of the health of the Portuguese and every day 150,000 professionals carry out their work”he underlined.
Source: DN
