[ad_1]
The situation in Portugal is “serious and complex”, warns the Minister of Health, who admits that if the figures continue to evolve at this rate – in the last 14 days Portugal has exceeded the threshold of 300 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants -, It will do so, it is necessary to deselect the care activity again and, eventually, refer patients who remain without response to the private and social sector, and the possibility of dictating more restrictive measures in other municipalities is also being considered. “The National Health Service has limits and we have a duty to protect this capacity,” he justifies.
At a press conference in which it was proposed to clarify the capacity of the National Health Service (SNS) to respond to the pandemic, Marta Temido presented the projections of the Instituto de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge that indicate that, on Wednesday, we can exceed the maximum. of seriously ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to intensive care in the first wave (271) and that, just a week later, on November 4, that figure could rise to 444 hospitalized patients in these highly complex units. In wards, the expected growth rate of hospitalizations is also worrisome. If in the meantime the measures enacted to contain the rate of infections are not effective, on November 4 there will be 2,635 hospitalized, double the peak recorded in the first wave.
The pressure on hospitals comes from the growth of new cases in people of all age groups, but the notification rate for the group older than 85 years has already “exceeded the maximum observed in the week of April 20 to 26, a one of the most complicated, ”said Marta Temido. “Given the fragility of individuals in this age group, it is considered that this situation may lead to an increase in hospitalizations and even deaths in the coming weeks,” he emphasized.
What, then, are the limits to the response capacity of the SNS? The answer is not clear. For peaks of influx in general (covid and non-covid), “and in an already very extreme situation”, public hospitals have 17,225 beds in wards and 852 in intensive care units, the official said. But, at the same time, he added that, of the 19,788 beds in general hospitals, 17,741 could be used for patients with covid-19, noting that “this capacity is also affected by other treatments.”
To further add to the confusion, the minister listed the numbers for current inpatient intensive care capacity across the five regional health administrations, which are substantially lower. There are only 318 intensive care beds assigned to covid-19 and 240 were occupied this Monday, about 75% of the total, so the North region had the highest number of hospitalizations (123 patients, when the hospitals in Lisbon and Vale do Yew had this Monday 87). Marta Temido insists, however, that detention capacity is “a relatively dynamic and relatively flexible management.”
Emphasizing that the initiative to present the figures on the capacity of the SNS was not intended to be a response to the criticisms of the different personalities, that is, the former ministers of Health, who were heard in recent days by the President of the Republic – “we we are concerned about responding to the health needs of the Portuguese, we do not have an agenda to respond to other circumstances ”-, vHe also noted that the SNS now has 1,889 fans when it had 1,142 in March, but it was unclear if there are enough professionals to operate this sophisticated equipment. It only revealed that a contest for 48 intensive care physicians has already been opened and that a new contest will open in early 2021 to recruit 46 more specialists in intensive care medicine.
In the long list of numbers that she presented, the minister also highlighted the “clear evolution of the reinforcement of personnel in the SNS between 2015 and 2019”, with “15,425 new effective professionals”, and that is a net balance, she emphasized. Between December 31, 2019 and September of this year, the reinforcement was 5,459 health professionals. As for doctors, in the first nine months of the year 548 more were hired and, in the same period, 1,727 nurses were hired.
With Rita Robalo Rosa
