Aljezur Council has sent an open letter to the Ministry of Health denouncing the shortage of healthcare professionals and family doctors in the borough, which is now down to “just one doctor”.
Explains the council, the director of the local health centre has retired and the doctor who worked in Odeceixe has resigned, leaving the borough with just one doctor.
“This situation is unacceptable and is strongly damaging to the population of Aljezur,” the local authority says in the letter.
The council complains that it has alerted the regional health authority (ARS Algarve) as well as the secretary of state for health and the health minister about the shortage of healthcare workers at the local health centre and the units in Odeceixe and Rogil.
While the council says it is “aware” of the pressure the Ministry of Health is under due to the pandemic, it also adds that it has always been available to “find solutions”.
Although a public tender was recently launched to hire 28 health professionals for the Algarve, the council laments that none of the vacancies were for Aljezur, a situation which it describes as “incomprehensible and unacceptable”.
“Health authorities are well aware of our population’s needs,” said the local authority, “thus, immediate solutions must be found.”
