INEM first responders threaten strike action through August – Portugal Resident

The Workers’ Committee of INEM (national institute of medical emergency) has issued an ultimatum today: either the government reverses measures announced by INEM president Luís Mendes Cabral on Friday, or they’ll start mounting strike action through August.

The crux of this conflict lies in Cabral’s comments that INEM is to transfer 100 ambulances from its operational fleet: 54 to Local Health Units (hospitals), and 46 SIV ambulances (Immediate Life Support) to be converted into ‘light vehicles’.

Cabral was talking to TSF Radio, about his plans for INEM, which he says he means to deliver into the 21st century, with “more money, more equipment and more artificial intelligence”.

But the Workers Committee, and STEPH, the Union of Pre-Hospital Technicians, believe the path Cabral is choosing when it comes to ambulances “will increase the burden on firefighters and the Red Cross, posing an increased risk to patients.”

Speaking to Rádio Renascença, Workers’ Committee spokesperson Rui Gonçalves said: “If this decision goes ahead, 54 emergency medical ambulances will be handed over to the ULS, and 46 SIV ambulances will cease to be ambulances, losing their capacity to transport patients.”

“We have reached this sad reality. If we are removing 100 vehicles from INEM, the remaining services will be overloaded by the work these ambulances will no longer perform,” he insisted. “If there are already delays, especially in Lisbon and south of the Tejo, this will make the situation even worse.”

In Gonçalves’ mindset Health Minister Ana Paula Martins must say whether she agrees with Luís Cabral’s plans, or not. If the latter, she should dismiss Cabral and appoint a new executive board, he told RR – stressing that if there is no response to this ultimatum, the committee will launch “protest actions that will only end once these measures, which are destroying INEM and its ability to serve citizens, are reversed.”

“It is not possible to dismantle INEM’s operational response and expect silence, restraint and passivity from its professionals,” he said, suggesting that the changes will open the door for “private operators to provide pre-hospital emergency care.”

In addition to demanding clarification from the Health Minister, INEM workers and STEPH have appealed to the mayors of the 71 affected municipalities – including Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Loulé and Viseu – “to defend their populations,” because “fewer resources mean longer emergency response times and greater risk for every resident.”

According to the INEM committee, the affected municipalities also include Braga, Setúbal, Aveiro, Faro, Leiria and Viana do Castelo.

The North, Centre and South regional branches will no longer be included in INEM’s new organisational law, according to the legislation published in the Official Gazette on July 16. However, the INEM president told Lusa that the new operating model provides for a stronger pre-hospital emergency presence in those regions, noting that the statutes to be published will retain the Urgent Patient Guidance Centres (CODU) at all four locations and will allow “the strengthening of support services in Porto, Coimbra and the Algarve through the recruitment of more professionals.”

Said Rui Gonçalves, either the government believes “the Portuguese people do not have an ounce of intelligence,” or there is “favouritism (here) towards the private sector.”

“What we are asking of the government is that it finally makes clear what it intends to do,” he concluded.

Source material: Rádio Renascença/ LUSA