Limitations and more limitations will mark this week in more than 33 emergency stations around the country. With the regions Lisbon and Tagus Valley affected the most the situation will be, if not already is, critical.
Although SNS’s administration points out improvements compared to the previous week, the situation between December 10. and 17. will look like this throughout the country.
60% (50 units) of 83 emergency stations will operate in full. This is according to the new plan of the SNS.
13 of 19 emergency units will be working under special conditions in some medical specialities. Vila Franca de Xira and Setúbal hospitals will be operating without constraints.
The urgency unit of the Amadora-Sintra Hospital will be conditioned until 8:00 a.m. on Friday and the maternity hospital Alfredo da Costa continues with embarrassment and does not receive pregnant through INEM (Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica)
11 of 29 emergency units in the Northern Region will also be affected in some specialities, while the Center of Portugal will have 17 units with limitations. The region of Alentejo has all 12 of its emergency locations without limitations, the Algarve will have 3 out of 6 units with constraints.
Calling it a real improvement compared to last week, SNS highlights better conditions in specialties with days of reduced conditions or limitations.
Still, the plan indicates that the specialties with more constraints in the emergency are general surgery, pediatrics, orthopedics and gynecology and obstetrics, but there are four hospitals that have, in a few days, limitations in the emergencies of Via Verde AVC, namely Viana do Castelo, Guarda, Santarém and Garcia de Orta, in Almada.
During last week the emergency units of the Greater Lisbon Area were under high pressure due to the fact that Lisbon’s largest hospital was forced to temporarily divert critically ill patients to other locations. The hospital Santa Maria treated 300 patients in their emergency unit (the average is around 120!).