Algarve health strike at the height of summer is “doubly worrying”

The strike in the health sector called for Thursday in the Algarve region is “doubly worrying”, as it coincides with the height of summer, said today the president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL), António Miguel Pina .

"It's doubly worrying, because not only are these precautions needed by the Algarve population, but at the height of summer, when the population is four or five times larger than at other times of the year, it will also create a bad image of a destination that is not safe from a health care perspective," he said.

In a statement, the president of AMAL said he understands the reasons for the strike, as those who live in the Algarve “recognize the effort that the entire sector, all professionals, nurses, assistants and also doctors make to provide the necessary care” for those who live in and visit the region.

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals will go on strike for 24 hours between 00:00 and 23:59 on Thursday in the Algarve, in protest against the lack of professionals in the sector and the worsening of working conditions.

According to António Miguel Pina, "there is a huge lack of investment" in hospitals in the Algarve, compounded by the fact that, "more than a year later", the Government has still not given "a clear and concrete word on the construction of the new hospital", which would be a "light at the end of the tunnel".

“But, above all, there is also a lack of dialogue and what we are seeing is that the Minister [of Health], already tired, is having difficulty talking to health professionals,” he argued, considering that dialogue seems to have run its course.

On the other hand, the mayor of Olhão (PS) also considers that there is a lack of a housing policy capable of retaining not only health professionals in the region, but also, for example, teachers, suggesting that a solution that existed in the past, which were functional houses, be returned to.

Added to this problem is the lack of working conditions for these professionals: "The health centers, despite being transferred to the municipalities, despite the efforts they are making, many of them do not have air conditioning, I know what I'm talking about," he concludes.

The strike scheduled for Thursday was called by the Southern Zone Doctors' Union, the Portuguese Nurses' Union and the Union of Public Service Workers of the South and Autonomous Regions.