Health Minister says new obstetrics plan does not foresee closures

The health minister said today that the new referral network for obstetrics and gynecology does not foresee closing services, but identifies weaknesses in two units, with new Integrated Responsibility Centers planned for the “most deficient” services.

“In that document, at no point does the experts propose closing [services], namely two Units that have had more difficulty in responding”, said Ana Paula Martins to journalists, on the sidelines of the 1st Iberian Congress of Palliative Medicine, which is taking place in Chaves.

The minister was responding to journalists, who asked her about the news, reported today by the weekly newspaper Expresso, that the obstetrics plan proposed by a group of 20 experts foresees the closure of the delivery rooms in Barreiro and Vila Franca de Xira.

“As a reference document, what it does is characterize the services that can and should be provided” to guarantee the safety of mothers and babies and the performance of professionals, said the minister.

Emergency rooms must have “complete teams, necessary for the number of births they perform per year (…), and the technological infrastructure, equipment and requalification in terms of the delivery room, said Ana Paula Martins.

The minister also added that the proposal, drawn up by the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Commission and which will now be put up for public discussion, identified weaknesses in the hospital units of Barreiro and Vila Franca de Xira, which could compromise the normal functioning of the emergency service.

“The document indicates that there are, specifically, two Units that have greater weaknesses at this time that, if not compensated, could maintain the services they have today, obstetrics and gynecology, therefore, they will not close the services, but, in fact, the emergency department may not be able to survive without a sharing of resources and responsibilities”, he stated.

Ana Paula Martins also explained that the new plan “is very clear regarding technical issues and safety issues”, as it analyses “what can and should be done” with the “standard teams” in each maternity ward, stating that it is “the safety that women, children and families can and should have”.

Regarding the “difficult challenge” of closing obstetrics and gynecology services on weekends, the minister indicated that the “anguish” felt by pregnant women is heightened in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, but especially in the Setúbal Peninsula, where Integrated Responsibility Centers will be created that are different from the current ones.

“In these contexts where there are fewer human resources, we have legislation in place, an ordinance, fully prepared to be implemented. These are Integrated Responsibility Centers in the area of ​​obstetrics and gynecology, different from the others we already have,” he said.

Ana Paula Martins explained that these are models with management autonomy, which “reward quality, not just productivity, proximity and availability in the vicinity of emergencies for the population”.

“We are going to invest many millions of euros in these Integrated Responsibility Centers, because it is a priority for the country, for the people (…) and I believe that the next Government will not fail to listen to the experts in order to [place them] where they can make a difference in terms of attracting human resources (…)”, he concluded.