The Bloco de Esquerda (BE) questioned the Government about the closure of the delivery block in the Bragança maternity and about the measures so that the situation does not repeat itself, it was announced this Thursday.
The parliamentary initiative of the party comes after, this Monday, the Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Northeast reported that “the scheduled and urgent activity of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Service is working, but the delivery block could be closed” some days this week. , due to medical leave of a specialist”.
The delivery block may close “a few days” this week in Bragança
“The closure of the Gynecology and Obstetrics service and the delivery block of the Bragança Hospital constitutes a serious case, which could not happen and which lacks urgent structural measures so that it does not happen again”, says BE in a presentation addressed to the Health Minister.
In the written question presented to the Assembly of the Republic, the party considers that “It cannot be accepted that a hospital of the size and differentiation of the Hospital de Bragança can have the Gynecology/Obstetrics service and the delivery block was closed, transferring the users to the Vila Real hospital”.
The distance between the Bragança Hospital and the Vila Real Hospital is 117 kilometers, a very long distance, which has more impact on the population of border municipalities, such as Freixo Espada a Cinta, Vinhais or Miranda do Douro. In some cases, users will have to travel more than 150 kilometers to be able to receive their medical attention”, he maintains.
Although it is “an absolutely punctual situation”, the Left Bloc considers that “it is essential to know how it has been possible to get to this point and what measures are being implemented so that this does not happen again”. .
The Left Bloc asks, in the parliamentary initiative, if the Government is aware of the situation and how many doctors, nurses, assistants are needed to guarantee the normal functioning and working hours of the Gynecology and Obstetrics service of the delivery unit of the Bragança Hospital.
Following the news that the emergency and delivery block would be closed between Tuesday and Friday, the Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Northeast issued, this Monday, a statement indicating that “the scheduled activity and the services of emergency department of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Service are operating”. , however, due to the sick leave of a specialist in the service, there may be, on some days this week, possible conditions in emergency care, being necessary to activate the contingency planwhich means that the calving block will be closed on those days.”
In these situations, explains the ULS do Nordeste, users who turn to the emergency services by their own means “will be guided, after medical observation and if the clinical situation justifies it, to the reference hospital unit within the scope of the National Service. of health” .
The closest maternity hospital to Bragança is Vila Real, which is an hour away.
The Bragança maternity hospital is the only one in the Trás-os-Montes district and is more than an hour away from part of the 12 municipalities in the region, with cases, such as Freixo de Espada à Cinta, in which the journey takes about an hour and a half.
Although most of the population of the region is closer to Bragança, there are municipalities, such as Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor, Alfândega da Fé or Mirandela, which are at the same distance, in terms of time of travel, from Bragança and VilaReal.
In the case of the municipality of Carrazeda de Ansiães, despite belonging to the district of Bragança, the route to Vila Real is shorter.
For other municipalities such as Mogadouro, Miranda do Douro, Vinhais or Vimioso, the distance is greater from Vila Real than from Bragança.
Source: Observadora
