The Order of Physicians (OM) on Friday demanded the “urgent reactivation” of the evaluation of the performance and quality of public hospitals, claiming that the suspension of the system jeopardizes transparency and trust in the sector.
“It is regrettable that the Health Regulatory Entity (ERS) has suspended the National Health Assessment System (SINAS) and ended evaluation of public hospitals, calling into question the transparency and trust in the health system, demonstrating a total lack of demonstrates clinical sensitivity”said the chairman, quoted in a communiqué from the order.
At issue is the decision of the ERS, reported by the newspaper Expresso, to “abolish health unit assessment”, which meant that National Health Service (SNS) users “did not know for more than a year what its the best public hospitals”.
Carlos Cortes considered it “urgent” that the evaluation system be reactivated, taking into account that SINAS “allows hospital health units to be examined” on various criteria, such as clinical excellence, safety and user satisfaction and the adequacy and comfort of installations, “quality dimensions which the Public Prosecution Service considers essential to continue to evaluate”.
“It is deeply regrettable – and strange – that ERS failed to properly inform the Public Prosecution Service and throughout this process has shown signs of a lack of independence from the Ministry of Health, even though it has full autonomy to carry out its important duties. mission of inspection and regulation”criticized the president.
Carlos Cortes also found it “incomprehensible and especially worrying that hospitals have not been evaluated since 2021” by SINAS, due to its replacement “by a new methodology that has not yet been developed and whose implementation has not been predicted”.
In July 2021, ERS announced that SINAS would operate from January 1, 2022 under new rules, which would be “communicated to all regulated institutions in a timely manner”.
At the time, the regulatory body justified the decision on the basis that the rating system only applied to certain types of establishments and was always based on voluntary entry.
“In addition, the ratings obtained only reflect performance in the areas specifically evaluated in this context, and no extrapolations can be made with respect to the overall quality of the devices in question”claimed ERS.
Given the suspension of SINAS, the PSD faction requested an urgent hearing in the health committee of former ERS presidents Eurico Castro Alves and Sofia Nogueira da Silva, as well as the current board of directors of the regulatory entity.
It is about “a situation that is important to fully understand and clarify, taking into account the growing importance that transparency of information has in health and, as well as the need to establish a full right to information on the part of citizens and other actors in guarantee that sector”claimed the PSD in the application.
The Liberal initiative also called for an urgent hearing, but by the health minister in parliament, to clarify whether the suspension of the system for evaluating the performance and quality of public hospitals was due to a “political decision “.
In the request to hear Manuel Pizarro in the Health Committee, the IL faction adds that, given the statements made to the newspaper by the former president of ERS, Eurico Castro Alves, “it is essential to understand whether this, in fact a political decision”.
If the Ministry of Health is confirmed to have influenced that decision in any way, it is a matter “too serious and the consequences will have to be taken,” the request also stresses.
The Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, already told RTP that “the government must respect the autonomy of the regulatory authorities”, but assured that the evaluation of the National Health Service hospitals is not in question.
“If the entity decides to change the system, I will not go into specifics about that. Fortunately, there are other systems to evaluate the quality of hospitals, in which public hospitals participate. Several public hospitals in the country even have an international certification system. assessment of the quality of hospitals is not an issue. That would be extremely serious.”considered the ruler.
Source: DN
