Four directors of the Cardiology Service sent a letter two weeks ago to the Minister of Health warning about the waiting lists for surgery and the implantation of the aortic valve, which was putting patients at risk. From here they criticized the fact that the reference centers in the north were overloaded and that there were other cardiology services with “infrastructure and technical competence” to perform the same procedures, but they were unable to do so.
They requested the evaluation of a new surgical unit at Hospital Santo António and a center for aortic valve implantation in Vila Real. And from here the positions and warning letters have followed and so have the meetings.
After the warning letter from the directors of the Cardiology Service, an open letter appeared last week from the directors of three of the six cardiology reference centers in the country. This Tuesday, the 3rd, the Medical Association also announces that it sent a letter to the Minister of Health arguing that reference centers, in general, should be a priority of the Unified Health System (SUS). This, on the day he will meet with the directors of the cardiology reference centers in the north and with the directors on duty who warn about waiting lists.
In the statement sent to the newsrooms, the order confirms that it sent a letter to the guardianship “to alert to the urgent need for review, reinforcement and true prioritization of Reference Centers, considering this to be one of the most relevant structural reforms of the National Health Service”, leaving criticism: “Despite its importance, it has not received the political and operational attention that is required from the Executive Management of the SNS”.
For the Order of Doctors, “Reference Centers represent an essential instrument of quality and clinical safety. For patients with complex, rare or highly serious diseases, they mean differentiated access, concentration of experience and an increased guarantee of quality of healthcare, in line with the principles enshrined in the Basic Health Law. Hospital Referral Networks are decisive in ensuring organizational connection and adequate response at each level of differentiation”.
This was the position taken to DN two weeks ago by the president of the College of Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialty, José Neves, when the question was raised that the directors of the Cardiology service were defending the opening of more reference centers that were not foreseen in the Reference Network, although they assured that this was not what they intended, but rather “to work in partnership to treat our patients and help clear the waiting lists”, André Luz told DN director of the Cardiology service of the Saint Anthony.
Remember that there is an opinion from the Directorate-General for Health that goes in this direction and the “non-opposition” on the part of the Ministry of Health as well, as stated by Ana Paula Martins in Parliament last week.
In the statement about reference centers, the president of the Medical Association, Carlos Cortes, states that “reference centers are a guarantee of quality and safety for patients and cannot be devalued”, stressing that “maintaining the model only on paper is insufficient, it is necessary to monitor it, reinforce it and provide it with the means to function fully.”
And it demands that this be “one of the biggest reforms of the SNS, which has not yet been fully implemented and cannot continue to be treated as a secondary matter, it requires clear political priority and rigorous execution”. In this sense, he argues that “the Ministry of Health and the SUS Executive Board must do more and unequivocally assume the reform. It is not enough to formally recognize the centers, it is essential to carry out a robust technical assessment, strengthen the capacity of the National Commission for Reference Centers, including the review of its applicable legislative framework and ensure effective and transparent monitoring.”
In the end, the Medical Association says it is available “to collaborate in this process, putting the competence of its Colleges at the service of people, the quality of care and the National Health Service”. In the area of cardiology, the doctors who raised this topic are also available to discuss solutions, but everything will depend on today’s meeting.
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