The health minister said on Monday he is starting negotiations with doctors’ unions “with an open mind” and, while knowing he won’t “please everyone”, expects some ideas to be accepted.
“I’m sure we can’t please the unions in everything they ask for. I expect some of our ideas will be accepted”said Manuel Pizarro.
In Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Porto district, where he participated in the conference “Mental Health in the Post-Pandemic – Stigma and Struggle”when asked about the start of negotiations with the doctors’ unions, the official stressed the need for dialogue.
“We are entering these negotiations with an open mind and in good faith”he summed up, noting that the negotiations are at a “very embryonic” stage.
“We have a lot of issues on the table. We have a very broad negotiating agenda. Our goal is to value professional careers”he added.
Manuel Pizarro recalled that a series of proposals had been presented to unions this Monday and praised the performance of health workers, stating that they are “the best the National Health Service has.”
“We really need to invest in improving careers and I’m not just talking about pay aspects”he concluded.
The doctors’ unions and the health ministry will meet again on Monday for a second round of negotiations, following the Nov. 9 meeting that formally kicked off this process.
These negotiations include the revision of the pay scale for clinicians, the establishment of the full deployment regime and the reorganization of emergency and medical work.
After the first meeting, the secretary general of the Independent Doctors Union (SIM), Jorge Roque da Cunha, stressed the “positive start” of the negotiations and added that next Monday’s meeting will serve to finalize the ministry’s concrete proposal analysis of public health.
The president of the National Federation of Physicians (FNAM), Noel Carrilho, said the two sides had already agreed that “it would be attempted to anticipate” the deadlines initially set during the negotiations.
These negotiations have formally begun with Minister Manuel Pizarro’s team, but the definition of the matters to be negotiated was also agreed with former minister, Marta Temido, who agreed to include the pay scale for National Health Service doctors in the negotiation protocol.
After Marta Temido’s resignation at the end of August, the unions representing doctors asked the government to open negotiations, criticizing the Health Ministry’s “total silence” on the process.
Health minister says mental health is a priority area of the PRR
Health Minister Manuel Pizarro this Monday defended the need to stop viewing mental health issues as a taboo, guaranteeing that this is a priority area of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
In Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto district, where he opened the conference “Mental Health in the Post-Pandemic — Stigma and Combat”, Manuel Pizarro said that “today there is a more open attitude towards metal health issues” and that the reflection on this topic with the covid-19 pandemic contributed a lot to this, but admitted that there are still prejudices.
‘We must stop treating mental health problems as a taboo’he underlined.
Manuel Pizarro said this is a priority area for the government within the scope of the PRR, with €88 million of public investment in mental health.
The Health Minister planned to put more mental health teams at the service of the community and estimated that after 10 go into effect in 2021, there will be 40 by the end of the PRR’s implementation.
“By the end of 2022, we expect that 20 local mental health teams will already be active”orphan.
Another goal highlighted this Monday was to create 1,500 continuous care spaces by the end of the PRR.
In a speech on the occasion of the opening of a conference organized by Rádio Renascença in collaboration with the Municipal Council of Vila Nova de Gaia, Manuel Pizarro also defended that it is not justified to continue to base admissions only on psychiatric hospitals and emphasized the commitment of the government to provide inpatient wards for this area in general hospitals.
“Our own consideration of the human rights of a person suffering from mental illness was very different in the past than it is now. People suffering from mental illness cannot have their rights reduced”orphan.
That was the view of the Minister of Health “It’s very hard to justify people spending decades in psychiatric hospitals” and on the construction of special rooms in general hospitals, he gave the example of a project already underway in Santo Tirso.
“In the SNS, we have a clear priority with regard to this problem. The outreach is in full swing, we are conducting more than 600,000 consultations in the field of psychiatry. But we cannot treat mental health as a specialty topic for psychiatrists. health needs to be addressed by the entire SNS. Community structures and primary health care”he concluded.
Source: DN
