The dermatologist Miguel Alpalhão he was suspended from duties at Santa Maria Hospitalwith total loss of salary, in a decision already advanced by CNN Portugal and Observador and confirmed by Expresso. The doctor, involved in the controversy over surgeries carried out under additional production, is no longer active.
Alpalhão received almost 700 thousand euros for 22 days of additional worka value that triggered several internal processes. In addition to the suspension now applied, a second disciplinary process is also taking place which could lead to dismissal and the return of funds considered undue.
The case was initially revealed in May, in a TVI investigation, and led to the hospital and the General Inspection of Health Activities (EVERY) to move forward with formal investigations.
This month, as Expresso reported, Health inspectors proved that surgeries ‘out of hours’ carried out by dermatologists at Santa Maria Hospital to reduce waiting lists, in addition to irregular procedures, were paid for with undue incentives. This led the hospital to decide demand from Miguel Alpalhão the extras received for the two operations he carried out on his own parents, with a value of around €8 thousand.
In this edition, Expresso also reports that the irregular record of ‘out of hours’ surgeries has been replicated by General and Plastic Surgery doctors. In these two services, there is also This involves the coding and carrying out of the intervention by the same doctor, the recording of all comorbidities for subsequent payment, even without any relation to the surgery, the scheduling of the operation without prior referral of the patient or the option for better paid procedures, for example.