176 health centers are already operating throughout the country with extended hours, available for consultation on the SNS portal, a measure that aims to reduce the pressure on hospital emergencies.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, released this Saturday, “from the north to the south of the country, 176 health centers operate with extended hours (business days) or complementary hours (weekends and holidays), providing a close response to the community in non-emergent health situations”.
This increase in the response capacity of primary health care is intended to respond to the increased demand of the population in the autumn and winter months, and to reduce the number of emergency services in non-emergency situations.
In the last week, there was a greater demand for hospital emergencies, especially at the Hospital de Santa Maria, in Lisbon, where urgent patients (yellow bracelet) had to wait an average of 14 hours on Tuesday morning to be seen , when the recommended time is 60 minutes.
On Wednesday, Minister Manuel Pizarro presented the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Health: Seasonal Health Response – Winter 2022-2023, noting that health centers would have extended hours or with additional services and that the SNS (National Health Service) portal ) provide this information updated daily.
The idea is that people have easy access to information that health services are open and can go to these places, avoiding overcrowding in hospital emergencies.
At the time the plan was presented, the official indicated that 36 health centers were open with extended hours in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, and “four or five” more in the North region.
As of today, there are already 176 primary health care units with extended hours, whose information is constantly updated in the area dedicated to the winter plan of the SNS portal.
The note from the Ministry of Health also highlights the importance of users calling the SNS 24 service in advance (808 24 24 24), for proper screening and referral of each situation, for a faster response and also for better planning of the SNS activity.
According to the guardianship, the operation of the “Vía Verde ACeS” in the Emergency Services (SU) is also underway, with a protocol already signed with 24 Groups of Health Centers (ACeS), out of a total of 55, together with hospital units.
This response makes it possible to refer non-urgent users, that is, white, blue or green bracelets, from hospitals to health centers, with a previously defined date and time, being attended to in a maximum of 24 hours.
Heading into winter, the Ministry of Health is asking all eligible citizens to get vaccinated against seasonal flu and COVID-19. The open house modality, which does not require an appointment, is available this week for people over 65 years of age.
Source: Observadora
