Emergency room in Setúbal does not solve lack of professionals

The mayor of Almada said this Wednesday that the government's announcement to create a regional obstetrics emergency unit on the Setúbal Peninsula does not resolve "the glaring problem of the lack of professionals," classifying the measure as "clearly insufficient."

"Whatever model is used, I think what we're talking about is a lack of professionals. I don't think this announcement will resolve the issue, the most glaring situation is the lack of professionals," Inês de Medeiros told Lusa news agency.

The mayor reacted in this way to the Government's decision, announced this Wednesday by the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, to create in the short term a regional obstetrics emergency unit in the Setúbal Peninsula, with the Garcia de Orta Hospital, in Almada, operating permanently and the Setúbal Hospital receiving cases referred by SNS 24 and INEM.

The minister, speaking at the Parliamentary Health Committee, explained that for this to happen, it is necessary to negotiate with the unions and speak with the Medical and Nursing Associations, since the Government already has the legislation ready.

At the hearing, the Minister of Health recalled that, to ensure the permanent opening of the country's 39 emergency rooms, "more than one million hours of annual medical work would be necessary ", complying with the allocations established (20% of obstetricians on the team) by the Order of Physicians.

Ana Paula Martins also highlighted that, for the Setúbal Peninsula, and just to have the emergency departments at Garcia de Orta Hospital, which is the most specialized, and Setúbal Hospital operating, an additional 30 specialists would be needed.

The minister acknowledged that Garcia de Orta, with 10 delivery rooms, 31 puerperal beds and 15 neonatal beds, “is not sufficient for the Setúbal Peninsula” and that, therefore, a competition will be opened in 2026 for the design of the Setúbal Peninsula Maternal and Child Center, “which will live within the perimeter of the Garcia de Orta Hospital”.

Garcia de Orta Hospital, which began operating in September 1991, belongs to the Almada-Seixal Local Health Unit and, according to official information, currently serves an estimated population of around 350,000 inhabitants in the municipalities of Almada and Seixal.

The minister said that a competition will be opened for the project, which will possibly take "two or three years, maybe even a little longer" and that the work will be financed through the State Budget, hoping that it will be completed "by the end of the legislature" or "beyond the legislature, depending on the time of the work".

For the Mayor of Almada, it is worrying that the minister is announcing a competition that will only open in 2026, which she believes means there will be no quick and effective response "to the very dramatic situation in which the Setúbal Peninsula regularly finds itself."

"It seems clearly insufficient to me for the situation we are experiencing," he said, adding that mayors should be listened to "because they know the territories and the needs of their population better than anyone else, something that he claims has not happened.

The population of the Setúbal Peninsula region, according to 2023 data from the INE, is 834,599 inhabitants.

This region covers nine municipalities (Almada, Seixal, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, Alcochete, Setúbal, Sesimbra and Palmela) and is one of the most populous in the country.