The President of the Republic defended this Saturday that there is a “unique opportunity” to update the National Health Service (SNS) that “cannot be missed”, considering that it is necessary to “adjust it to the new reality”.
At the Hippocratic Oath ceremony in the southern region, in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa defended that the National Health Service “is an invaluable asset”, for which it is expected that “the SNS can be updated, because it has a long history and rich history but the world has changed, Europe has changed and Portugal has changed”.
“And you have to adjust it to the new reality and here is a unique, unique opportunity that was not possible during the pandemic, which was partially faced before the pandemic, which is to look at this SNS and realize that this is the time to make that adjustment in human, financial, logistical and technical resources, in the organization, in management, in testing the new management model in which the one who defines the policy, defines the policy, the one who has to manage by competencies, looking at the field, he must act with room for maneuver, separating one thing from another”, he stressed.
Considering that the “opportunity has been created”, the head of state affirmed that he hopes that “it will not be wasted”.
“It was so difficult to get to the point where, once the pandemic was overcome and turned into an endemic disease, the minimum conditions were met to make this separation and provide means and resources to what should be a new stage of the management of the SNS , which cannot be wasted.” for the “thousands and thousands and thousands who are health professionals and are active.”
“It is what we should all want, regardless of whether we belong to a sector, to a quadrant, to an orientation, whether we are in power or out of power, which is the most transitory thing in the world. It is not transitory, it is really finding a formula that looks at those priorities, life and health, and recreates the conditions that were created in other times and reformulated for decades, but that today face challenges like never before inside and outside, in other societies, and they are crucial challenges”, he pointed out.
Greeting the representatives of other professional orders present at the ceremony, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that he is “attentive to guaranteeing the autonomy of the orders, that is, attentive to the legislation on the matter that will be approved by the Assembly of the Republic.” . .
Before an auditorium full of young doctors who had just taken the Hippocratic oath, the President of the Republic confessed to having “a trace of envy” and “it is a pity that this tradition does not exist in practically any other formation”.
The Minister of Education, on behalf of the Government, has indicated that “in 2023 Portugal will have a total of 2,054 specialized medical training places, the largest map of places in history, which represents an increase of 115 places, 6% more compared to 2022”. .
João Costa indicated that “this growth reflects a commitment by the Government and partner institutions in the training of medical specialists to strengthen the human resources of the SNS, with direct impacts on citizens’ access to quality and differentiated care” and left a ” thanks to the efforts of the Order of Physicians”.
Precisely on this subject, the president of the Order of Doctors, Miguel Guimarães, had previously mentioned that in 2017 there were “about 1,550 vacancies” for the specialty and today there are more than 2,050, and “there will be more”, noting that “there will probably be vacancies for the specialty to occupy”.
Source: Observadora
