Over 80% of the Algarve’s nurses participated in the 24-hour nationwide health professionals’ strike.
Around 80%-90% of nurses went on strike today at Faro and Portimão’s hospitals, while in Lagos there wasn’t a single nurse on duty, regional coordinator of Portugal’s nurses’ union (SEP) Nuno Manjua told journalists this morning.
The nurses’ representative said that many patients have been stuck in lines or sent home as health services are running at bare minimum and many consultations have been cancelled or rescheduled. He added that only “urgent surgeries” are taking place.
Faced with these numbers, Manjua said: “It’s very hard to access health services because there is a lack of health professionals, vehicles and medical supplies.
“It is a totally unsustainable situation, chaos is descending on the Algarve and those in charge continue to ignore what’s happening, they’re not coming up with urgent solutions,” he said.
Rosa Franco, representative of the regional union for public sector workers, said that the high number of nurses on strike is “significant” and “proves that health professionals are unhappy with the degradation of the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve (hospital administration) and even ARS Algarve (regional health authority)”.
Franco recalled that a public forum will be held in front of Faro’s regional health authority building at 5pm.
Meantime, SEP has announced that many nurses have also taken part in Santarém’s four-day strike. The highest number registered so far was on Wednesday (August 20), with 86% of nurses going on strike.
