The PCP will present a bill that aims to “rectify” the new SNS Statute, considering that the diploma course “accentuates the discontinuity” of the service and “intends to favor the interests of economic health groups,” it was announced on Wednesday.
At a press conference at the national headquarters of the PCP, Bernardino Soares, a member of the party’s Central Committee, argued that the new Statute of the National Health Service (SNS) —promulgated by the President of the Republic on August 1— “is intended to object to favor economic health groups and compromises the essential path to save the SNS”.
The SNS Statute of the Government of the PS includes the negative and omits what is necessary to recover the SNS. The PCP will not fail to intervene in this process, that is, with the presentation of a bill with the aim of rectifying the negative aspects of this Statute”, he announced.
According to Bernardino Soares, the PCP bill reform “the rules that allow the provision of public health services to the privateimproving democracy in relation to health units —allowing, for example, the participation of professionals in their management or, on the other hand, guaranteeing the elimination of the rules of centralization and dependence on the Ministry of Finance”.
Asked if, like Chega and the Liberal Initiative, the PCP is considering advancing with a request for parliamentary consideration of the diploma, the member of the central committee replied: “Ten deputies are needed for parliamentary consideration, so we cannot ask for it. ”.
Among the various criticisms pointed out by the PCP to the graduate, Bernardino Soares accused the Government of “opening the door to a greater delivery of health services to economic groups” and of not “valuing health workers”.
The Government’s option for ‘full dedication’ is confirmed -to the detriment of ‘exclusive dedication’-, which will imply an extension of the working day and whose conditions continue to be fundamentally unknown and regulated”, he said.
The member of the Central Committee of the PCP also indicated that the diploma “extends the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and the accountability of local authorities”, by transferring powers “far beyond what is provided for in the legislation”, compromising “the principle Constitution of universality”. “and equality in the right to health”.
For his part, Bernardino Soares considered that the diploma “accentuates the centralization and governmentalization of management, dependence on the Ministry of Finance and the absence of participation of health professionals.”
Bernardino Soares thus accused the Government of being “trapped in its own labyrinth, of those who present a political discourse evaluating the SNS, but at the same time have a practice that, by their action and omission, contributes to its further weakening.”
Asked if he still agrees with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa – who indicated that it is through the SNS Statute that he has to “initiate any serious, effective and global health reform in Portugal” – the member of the Central Committee of the PCP stressed that ” in this The President of the Republic is right: a SNS Statute is needed, because the Basic Law was published three years ago [em 2019] and it needs clear regulation.”
I doubt that what the President of the Republic understands as a necessary reform is the same thing that the PCP defends,” he stressed.
Bernardino Soares also stated that there could be a dialogue between the Government and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with a view to introducing changes in the new Statute of the SNS, resulting in a diploma “with results that may differ from those that would exist in relation to the initial project” .
The Statute was approved by the Council of Ministers on July 7 and was only published at the end of July, which normally, in these matters, means that there is interactivity and dialogue between those who legislate and those who enact. And this can be seen in the fact that there are some changes that, perhaps, were introduced at the last minute, and that feed legal inconsistencies in the diploma course and that may be the result of this dialogue between the Government and the Presidency of the Republic. ”, he underlined.
Source: Observadora
