In statements to Lusa, the coordinator of the working group responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Emergency and Health Transformation Plan (PETS) assessed the work done “positively, but without euphoria,” acknowledging that “ambition is welcome.”

“There was optimism, and ambition is welcome, but perhaps it was too high,” acknowledges Carlos Robalo, who argues that some measures should have their deadlines revised, such as the separation of the specialties of Gynaecology and Obstetrics: “It will be impossible.”

The same applies to the deinstitutionalization of chronic mental health situations, a measure that was classified as urgent and, therefore, should have been completed by the end of August 2024: “It should be reconsidered. In fact, it should become ‘structuring’ [medium/long term], and if it could be achieved by the end of the legislature, that would already be good,” considers Carlos Robalo.

The PETS, presented on May 29, 2024, is divided into five priority areas: Timely Response, Safe Babies and Mothers, Urgent and Emergency Care, Close and Family Health, and Mental Health.

According to the plan's monitoring website, two measures considered urgent (out of a total of 15), which should have yielded results by the end of August last year, are still incomplete: the requalification of emergency service spaces – general/psychiatric emergency – and the deinstitutionalisation of chronic mental health situations.

Six other measures considered priorities (out of a total of 26) are also "underway": a new clinical priority for cancer patients, the creation of Family Health Units model C (USF C), strengthening the public response in partnership with the private sector (Medical Associations and Cooperatives), encouraging adherence to the voluntary additional patient portfolio scheme, structured intervention programs for anxiety and depression in Primary Health Care, and the creation of regional mental health services for the inpatient treatment of highly complex patients.

The coordinator of the working group highlights the increased responsiveness of the National Health Service (SNS) and the effects of creating Clinical Care Centres (to divert people from emergency rooms), noting that the operation of these centres has reduced waiting times in emergency services by 20%.

However, he says it is essential to "make contracts more flexible" to attract and retain healthcare professionals: "Fixed contracts do not serve the new generations, who increasingly value greater articulation between professional, personal, family, and social life."

He also emphasises the need for programs that help increase the population's literacy and faster communication with citizens: "People must always know where to go and when."

"Prior contact [with services] is what is done in the most developed countries," he adds.