The health minister reiterated on Saturday that the National Health Service (SNS) Executive Directorate will have “conditions of autonomy”, but that it is up to the government to set general policies for the sector.
In Porto, on the sidelines of the 2nd meeting of health administrators, Manuel Pizarro acknowledged that “in some cases” more resources are needed from the SNS, but called a better articulation of existing resources essential.
“Our goal is to have an Executive Directorate of the National Health Service with terms of autonomy, which means that we will of course choose the or the Executive Director and then also give her full autonomy to form her team”he said, without naming possible names to hold that position.
However, he stressed that “this autonomy does not mean that the government or the Ministry of Health is not responsible, which remains responsible for determining the general lines of health policy”.
“We will certainly be responsible to guarantee this executive leadership the necessary resources to keep the SNS functioning and to protect the health of the Portuguese,” he added.
Manuel Pizarro said the SNS Executive Directorate will have a “coordinating and operational role of the whole SNS, looking precisely for better coordination between the different networks”, given the lack of resources in the sector.
“I recognize that in some cases more resources will be needed, more resources, but there is no doubt that it will be necessary to better articulate the resources we already have, even because the resources are certainly not infinite,” he acknowledged.
In the Council of Ministers on 8 September, the government approved the decree-law establishing the executive leadership of the SNS, as provided for in the SNS statute.
The president of the republic announced that diploma Friday.
Source: DN
