FARO CÂMARA has announced that it is against the reduction in opening hours of the Service of Permanent Attendance (SAP) at the Faro Health Centre, imposed by the Ministry of Health. The new timetable means that the SAP will close at 8pm (instead of midnight) and all emergencies after that time will have to be dealt with at Faro District Hospital. A unanimous vote was passed against the move at a recent meeting in Faro Town Hall.
Faro Câmara President, José Apolinário, expressed his opposition to the measure by stating: “The motion we have put forward demands an immediate return to the timetable that was previously in force. This reduction in hours means a retreat in the availability of healthcare to the public, which is not acceptable.” Apolinário has also expressed these thoughts in a letter to the president of the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve, Dr. Rui Lourenço.
The president furthered his discontent by highlighting that the healthcare system is already failing some of the public, and that it should be increasing its output rather than cutting its hours. “The structure of health in the council should answer an adequate form and reinforce the number of family doctors. There are thousands of patients without a family doctor.”
