Just a week into a major shake-up in the way the Algarve’s state hospitals are run, the region’s A&E boss has handed in his resignation.
Luís Pereira said he and the new hospital board have to “share the same ideas and goals” for things to improve.
Talking to Lusa, he stressed that any deflection from the focus on A&E would have very serious consequences for a region that fills up with hundreds of thousands of tourists in the summer season.
“An administrative council that looks at this area in a different way runs serious risks of having problems,” he said – alluding to the widely-praised A&E response to emergencies like the bus crash involving Dutch tourists last summer (click here).
“Emergency services have to be ready to respond to any situation in order to provide adequate assistance to the region’s residents and thousands of holidaymakers,” he said.
Lusa adds that Pereira has been in charge of the Algarve’s six casualty units (three in Faro, Portimão and Lagos hospitals, and the rest at health centres in Albufeira, Loulé and Vila Real de Santo António) since 2012, which makes him a champion of the former health administrative board, appointed by the outgoing PSD government.
The new man-in-charge Joaquim Ramalho has commented that it is “perfectly normal” for department chiefs to quit in this way when new administrations take control.
Photo: SARA ALVES/OPEN MEDIA GROUP
