Participation in the strike this Friday, October 17th, by nurses is 100% in the operating room at Hospital de Santa Maria, in Lisbon, and in external consultations at Hospital de Viseu, according to data provided to Lusa by the Portuguese Nurses Union.
At Chaves Hospital, the Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) service is only providing emergency cases, said union leader Guadalupe Simões.
These are the first data on adherence to the strike called by the Portuguese Nurses Union (SEP), which began at 8:00 am and ends at midnight, with the global numbers being released around noon, said the union leader.
The SEP expects strong support for the strike across the country: “We wouldn’t say 100%, but very close to it”, said Guadalupe Simões.
With the strike, consultations and surgeries will be postponed, a situation that, according to the union leader, should have been taken care of by hospital administrations and the Ministry of Health.
“Taking into account the forecast of a strong turnout for the strike, contacts should have been made in order to reschedule, reschedule everything that was planned”, which, he said, “is usually not done”.
“The strike notice deadlines were met, therefore, they had enough time to make these contacts”, concluded Guadalupe Simões.
The SEP called for a meeting scheduled for 11:00 am in front of the Ministry of Health, in Lisbon, in protest against the proposal for a Collective Labor Agreement (ACT) presented at the end of July presented by the Government.
“The ACT proposal presented by the Ministry of Health has the sole objectives of saving money at the expense of nurses’ work, increasing exploitation, and facilitating the handover of public management of Local Health Units to PPP”, states the SEP in a statement published on the website.
The SEP demands that the Ministry of Health evolve in its proposal, stating that it will present “proposals and counter-proposals” and will be in negotiations with a view to valuing all nurses.
“The problem with organizing our working time does not lie in the lack of regulation. It lies in the shortage of nurses, which has been worsened by the lack of measures for hiring, attracting and retaining nurses and the increase in the population’s health care needs”, highlights the SEP.