Government orders General Inspectorate of Finance to audit INEM

The General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) will carry out an audit of the management and evaluation of human resources and the expenditure of the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) since 2021, the Government announced today.

“The Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, determine that the IGF carry out an audit of the functioning of INEM, in the organizational, administrative and financial domains, with regard to the management and evaluation of human resources and the realization of expenditure, which contribute to the development of its activity”, said a joint statement from the two ministries.

According to the executive, the audit will cover the years since 2021, without prejudice to the possibility of covering previous periods, and will have the collaboration of the General Inspectorate of Health Activities (IGAS) and the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS).

The Ministries of Finance and Health justify the audit with the “recent doubts raised about the functioning” of the institute, considering that a “mere analysis of the generically available documentation” within the framework of the regular and legally established accountability is not sufficient.

“There is therefore a need to assess the conditions and terms of operation of the respective services on site, in order to obtain evidence that can support a clear and complete view of the situation”, the statement states.

By the end of March, the IGF must present a report with the results of the audit, “without prejudice to being able to continue monitoring the implementation of improvement measures considered pertinent”, the Government also said.

The two ministries emphasize that INEM is a “critical organization in the prompt and correct provision of health care to citizens in emergency situations”, which justifies “permanent attention and evaluation of its organization and performance levels, in order to be able to adopt, in a timely manner, the measures considered necessary to minimize the risk of constraints to the provision of assistance”.

At the request of the Ministry of Health, IGAS is also currently carrying out an audit of INEM, on the legality, regularity, economic and financial correctness of its operations, which was initiated on July 11 and is currently in the adversarial phase.

The former president and the previous member of the institute's Board of Directors requested that IGAS extend the deadline granted for this adversarial process, which was authorized until January 31st.

In October, when she was heard in parliament, the Minister of Health acknowledged INEM's “deficient response” to the population and the lack of resources, but said that the plan for the “refounding” of the institute will only be drawn up after this audit.

Recently, the Ministry of Health announced that Judge Leonor Furtado will preside over the Independent Technical Commission that will be responsible for presenting a proposal for the “necessary refounding” of INEM.

According to the ministry, the Independent Technical Commission was created with the aim of studying and framing the competences of INEM, with a view to presenting a “proposal for a critical organizational model, within the scope of the necessary re-founding” of the institute that coordinates the Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIEM).

In November, two simultaneous strikes – by public administration and INEM technicians working overtime – led to dozens of emergency services being stopped and delays in responding to emergency calls to the institute's call centers.

These stoppages made the lack of human resources at the institute evident, with Minister Ana Paula Martins claiming to be the direct responsibility of the institute, which was delegated to the Secretary of State for Health Management.