Clinical board accused of being “arrogant and overbearing”, acting illegally and inadmissibly
Trouble within the obstetrics service of Lisbon’s main teaching hospital Santa Maria has intensified today with the bloc resignations of various heads of emergency teams.
The health professionals claim they have been bullied by the hospital’s administration, which they say, has been acting in an overbearing arrogant fashion – trying to force through inadmissible illegalities.
The fuss stems from the removal earlier this week of the hospital’s Director of Obstetrics Diogo Ayres de Campos – ostensibly because he queried a restructuring plan – as well as obstetrician Luísa Pinto because she too agreed with him.
The two were ‘removed’ following the delivery of a letter to the hospital’s clinical board signed by 34 of the 37 doctors in the obstetrics department.
According to Joana Bordalo e Sá, president of the national federation of doctors (FNAM), everything that has happened since has been “bizarre” and very wrong for the doctors involved.
She told SIC today that the Clinical Board of the University Hospital Centre of Lisbon North (CHULN) has told obstetricians who say they have exceeded their limit of overtime for the year that they have to return some of the money paid to them this far (unless they are prepared to work more overtime).
They have also been told they must cancel holidays already booked this summer.
That these kind of issues are happening after the State health service is meant to have been strengthened by the creation of a ‘second tier’ (the executive health directorate) is what perhaps is most worrying.
As far as the clinical board is concerned, it has put out a statement via Lusa news agency to say everything is working as it should be, and “there should be no fear on the part of the population”.
Says Lusa, the doctors of CHULN stress “they are sure that obstetricians will continue to provide, with total professionalism, the best care to pregnant women and children treated at Santa Maria Hospital”.
