Portugal Healthcare Strike To Affect 400,000 Appointments

As many as 400,000 medical appointments and 4,500 operations could be cancelled in Portugal over the next two days, warned the Portuguese health ministry on Wednesday, after thousands of doctors and nurses went on strike yesterday to protest against cuts in the health budget.

The strike, which will last for 48 hours, came after the government had announced 800 million euros ($985 million) in cuts from the health budget earlier this year – as part of a multi-billion-euro bailout deal with the European Union and the IMF.

As many as 400,000 medical appointments and 4,500 operations could be cancelled in Portugal over the next two days, warned the Portuguese health ministry on Wednesday, after thousands of doctors and nurses went on strike yesterday to protest against cuts in the health budget.

The strike, which will last for 48 hours, came after the government had announced 800 million euros ($985 million) in cuts from the health budget earlier this year – as part of a multi-billion-euro bailout deal with the European Union and the IMF.

But the cuts would restrict healthcare access to the poor, claimed medical unions, especially with increased prices for prescription medication and certain medical services now being shut down.

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Carlos Braga, head of a patients’ rights group in Lisbon, told AFP that the numbers of people who could no afford health care was rising fast.

[quote]”Thousands of people are now deprived of care because they cannot afford the prices that were put in place in January,” he said.[/quote]

Furthermore, overworked doctors, who have seen their overtime reduced, are concerned over a “worrying and dramatic” fall in the quality of care in Portugal’s health system – once ranked the 12^th in the world by the World Health Organisation – as second-rate or obsolete equipment were being bought to cut cost, while the government also has plans to use cheaper, outside, service providers instead of hiring additional staff.

[quote]“The national health service is under threat. They want to destroy it by creating disparities in who has access to care,” said Miguel Cunha, a 49-year-old paediatrician.[/quote]

 “We do not want to see a health system that allows the state to hire whichever medics offer the cheapest hourly rate,” added Jorge Roque da Cunha, the secretary-general of Independent Doctors Union, to Euronews.

The healthcare unions had promised before the strike that a minimum service across health clinics and hospitals would at least be guaranteed during the strike’s duration, while emergency services would remain unaffected.

According to the BBC, many hospitals also rescheduled their appointments ahead of the strike, though a few patients were still seen waiting hopefully for consultations.

“I am due to have an operation today but I don’t know if it is going to happen. I have been told to wait,” said Lidia Goncalves, a Brazilian patient.

Another patient, Manuel Silva, told AFP: “I was supposed to have an appointment with a specialist this morning. I called yesterday but they couldn’t tell me if I would be seen. This morning they told me to go home and that they would contact me soon.”

Health Minister Paulo Maceo have said that was “ready for dialogue and negotiations,” but warned that authorities were “not excluding taking necessary measures to guarantee the viability of the precious public service sector to the Portuguese”.

Maceo added the government was “aiming to minimise the impact of the budgetary cuts with which we have to live on the general population,” though he did not elaborate further on their plans.

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