She became the most popular minister in the government, but was unable to withstand the post-pandemic period marked by successive crises in the National Health Service (SNS). Marta Temido slammed the door and “this time” António Costa had to accept the departure of the head of health care, whose resignation will not be filled for the time being. With the parties and professional bodies in the sector demanding changes, the prime minister has already given the answer: the minister will change, government policy will not. But a warning came from Belém: the SNS must start working more independently of the ministry.
António Costa admitted yesterday that he did not expect the health minister to leave Marta Temido has yet to go to the next Council of Ministers hand over the diploma for the establishment of the executive leadership of the SNS, which should postpone the appointment of a successor by about two weeks.
a break “a bit complicated from the point of view of how the SNS works”, says the former health minister, Ana Jorge. The same defends Constantino Sakellarides, former Director General of Health and former president of the National School of Public Health, who believes the prime minister will still “reconsider” this decision that leaves the SNS in a “blank”: “I think this will be corrected, the way our system works, the SNS situation can not support 15 days without the Minister of Health” in fullness of functions. Yesterday, the nurses’ union came to defend the minister’s “immediate replacement”, citing career negotiations that have been going on for four months and “to minimize the growing instability in the GGD”.
After two terms marked by tensions with various health sectors, yesterday they reacted to the minister’s resignation with criticism, statements that it was an inevitable exit and a call for dialogue by the future holder of the portfolio. Criticisms that were also repeated between the parties, but mainly with the batteries aimed at government policy for the healthcare sector. In his response, António Costa has already quashed the opposition’s demands: “If you want to change policy, you must overthrow the government”. But there was another voice advocating for health changes.
Marcelo wants “more autonomous management” of the SNS
After the publication of a note, early in the morning, on the official website of the presidency, stating that he is waiting for the “formalization of the request for resignation, as well as the proposal to appoint a new holder” for Health, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa returned to the topic of health in the afternoon, in a video conference with participation in the PSD Summer University. And for the . to defend “more autonomous” management of the SNS vis-à-vis the ministry, as the “classic form of direct dependency has shown limits in its effectiveness”. The president of the republic, who recently passed the SNS statute with “doubts”, also said he is “waiting” the regulation “to see what that means, if it gives what we all want or only a conjunctural solution is given which later does not meet the objectives in practice”.
Who will succeed Marta Temido?
Five months after the new government takes office, António Costa has thus been forced to occupy one of the top positions in the executive branch, in a sensitive area such as health. The prime minister said yesterday that he will still consider the name of Marta Temido’s successor, but at the beginning there are a few names in the line of possible ministers. Starting with António Lacerda Sales, the current Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Health, who yesterday “fell” with the minister. Another possible name among the socialists is Manuel Pizarro, a doctor, former secretary of state and current Member of the European Parliament. Outside of a more partisan profile, Fernando Araújo, physician and chairman of the board of directors of Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São Joãoformer president of the Northern Regional Health Administration and former deputy secretary of state and health, is also being talked about as a possible successor.
“Lack of dialogue” and tension with health professionals
After a summer marked by difficulties in emergency services, especially obstetrics, Marta Temido resigned in the early hours of Tuesday, following news of the death of a pregnant woman who had been transferred from Santa Maria Hospital to São Francisco. xavier. A situation the prime minister himself admitted was “the final straw” for the health minister who, as can be seen from Costa’s words when he said he accepted “this time”, he had previously asked to leave.
“I realize it was the last straw that broke the glass in an already very tense situation, but as far as we know there was no service outage here. I was director of a pediatric service for many years, with responsibility for neonatal care, and that happens ‘once’, says Ana Jorge, who attributes the minister’s departure to an accumulation of problems and tensions in the sector. “There has been a lack of dialogue here for a while. and although the responsibility is never just one of the parties, there are situations that have not been overcome, things did not go well between the minister and the various orders of the sector.” As for the successor, he has “great challenges” ahead, on an area in which “it is necessary to respond to people’s problems” and “to soothe the mood” with professionals in the sector. “Healthcare professionals were not always treated well.either by the administrations or by the ministry itself. They need an in-depth response” — which necessarily means “career progression,” he says.
For Constantino Sakellarides, the big challenge for the next head of Health is to “turn the SNS into a service of our time”. “That’s where we have to go, it’s a difficult road that requires political leadership, cooperation between ministry and professionals, between public and private”DN, without a doubt, tells us that this is the “hardest operation” of the entire executive, which “piles up problems of many decades”, which “has not recovered from the severe austerity of the time of the Troika”. And that, after a “good response to the pandemic situation, it was very worn out,” with health workers working in “disturbing situations” now leading to them leaving the National Health Service in droves. In addition, “professional associations are not very helpful: good dialogue between all parties is needed”.
Source: DN
