Patients denounce ‘inhumane’ conditions at Portimão Hospital A&E – Portugal Resident

A Portuguese patients’ advocacy group has accused the emergency department at Portimão Hospital of subjecting patients to “inhumane and undignified” conditions, alleging that ambulance arrivals are routinely left waiting for prolonged periods outside the hospital, in extreme temperatures.

CUDESP, the Commission of Users in Defence of Public Services say patients transported by ambulances frequently remain outside the Algarve hospital’s emergency department — often inside the vehicles themselves — because the unit is unable to admit them immediately.

“Every day, patients and accident victims transported by ambulance spend long periods waiting outside the emergency department, many of them inside the ambulances, exposed to extremely high temperatures,” said the committee said in a statement, which has been sent to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, Health Minister Ana Paula Martins, all parties represented in parliament and the chairman of the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS Algarve).

According to CUDESP, photographs accompanying the complaint clearly show ambulances operated by INEM, the National Institute of Medical Emergency, and local firefighters, parked outside the emergency department with their doors open to help cope with the heat.

The group claims that, in some cases, patients are forced to wait outside until space becomes available inside the A&E department.

It also raises concerns over patients’ privacy – alleging that transfers from ambulances into the hospital are often carried out in full view of passers-by and people in the waiting room, “without any protection of patients’ intimacy and privacy, in breach of the most basic principles of human dignity.”

CUDESP claims to have also received reports that clinical triage is conducted in a room with two consultation desks positioned side by side without physical partitions, allowing patients and accompanying relatives to overhear other people’s medical complaints, clinical histories and personal information.

The committee argues that this arrangement compromises the confidentiality of sensitive health data.

It has called on the health minister to order urgent measures to create a sheltered, dedicated reception area for patients arriving by ambulance, protected from the weather and “compatible with human dignity.”

Urging parliamentary parties to investigate the situation and press the government to resolve the issue “with the urgency it requires”, the group also wants ULS Algarve to reorganise the emergency department to ensure triage takes place under conditions that guarantee confidentiality, privacy and respect for patients’ rights.

Lusa news agency said it sought a response from ULS Algarve but had been unable to obtain one by the time of publication.

One member of the public however, has commented under this news story, carried by ‘healthnews.pt’, and it is not an inspiring message: “Healthcare is in chaos. Even in health centers. It’s for people without money to die. That’s what our leaders want. Why? Because they themselves lack nothing. Believe me, it really is so people die, that way they don’t have to pay pensions. Many elderly people are left behind—that is exactly the objective. They are going to pocket millions. I’m speaking from my own experience. I went to an appointment at the health center. On the day of the blackout, at the health centers, hospitals, and pharmacies. I was left waiting for almost a month. They didn’t call me. I had to phone. I got no response at all: “Wait, they’ll call later,” but they never did. I went there in person and was treated badly. I had to threaten to call the television. The lady got very upset. Then I went home, and two days later they called…”

Source material: healthnews.pt/ Lusa