THE ALGARVE health authority is moving forward with a package of changes, which will transform local healthcare. The objective is to improve front line care so that the public have better accessibility to health centres.
In this context, the health authority has decided to permanently suspend the Serviço de Atendimento Permanente (SAP) of Lagos health centre (Centro de Saúde) and, instead of offering a 24-hour service, will now only operate between the hours of 8am and 8pm. Night-time emergencies from Lagos, Aljezur and Vila do Bispo will be dealt with at Lagos Hospital Distrital.
The provision of front line services is being reclassified in order to put an end to the doubling up of services (at the SAP and at the hospital), freeing up resources for the improvement in accessibility to family doctors and reduce so called ‘false emergencies’.
