Parliament approved this Friday, February 27th, in general, a PS bill to reduce social admissions in public hospitals, which received votes against from the PSD and CDS-PP, parties that support the Government.
In addition to these votes against, the diploma of the socialist bench that creates the “Voltar a Casa” program was approved with the abstention of the Liberal Initiative (IL) and the votes in favor of the remaining benches.
Another bill on the same subject, which was presented by PAN deputy Inês de Sousa Real, was rejected, also with PSD and CDS-PP voting against and Chega, PS, IL and PCP abstaining.
In the debate held on Thursday, the PS justified its bill with the need to respond to people who are in hospitals with clinical discharge waiting for a place in social responses, alleging the worsening of the problem in recent years, but the PSD considered the diploma to be untimely, highlighting that the Government has already moved forward with concrete measures.
“After two years, the issue is no better. The number of people residing in medically discharged wards has increased by 50% in recent years”, highlighted parliamentary leader Eurico Brilhante Dias, at the end of the debate provided by the socialist bench.
PSD parliamentarian Sandra Pereira defended that the Government has already “progressed with concrete and operational measures”, pointing to the examples of around “400 new vacancies” to remove people from hospitals more quickly, the reinforcement of the integrated continuous care network with “3,000 new beds” and the “largest increase ever”, of 19%, in the amounts paid to institutions.
In January this year, around 2,800 users with clinical discharge remained hospitalized in public hospitals, waiting for a social response or a place in long-term care, according to data from the Executive Board of the Unified Health System (DE-SUS).
In practice, the approved socialist bench diploma establishes the legal regime of the “Return to Home” program, to ensure social responses for people with clinical discharge, through the provision of health care and social support in social facilities, home support or transitional responses, depending on the concrete needs of each case.
The bill provides for a new social response for people who have been discharged and require transitional care, called Transitional Residence.
The deputies also approved two draft resolutions – initiatives without the force of law -, one from the CDS which recommends that the Government update this year the amounts of support to be paid to integrated continued care units and another from Livre on the reinforcement of social responses in this area.
In the votes taking place this Friday, five other draft resolutions that had been presented by Chega, PAN, Livre, PCP and BE were “failed”, which recommended that the executive adopt several measures to reduce hospital admissions of people with clinical discharge and reinforce the responses aimed at them.
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