The nine team heads of the pediatric emergency department at Hospital Dona Estefânia, in Lisbon, submitted on Thursday their resignation from coordination and leadership positions, citing constraints associated with anesthesiology. The Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) São José confirmed having received the resignation letter at 21:53 on the same day.
The ULS acknowledged that, during the holiday period, there have been difficulties in filling anesthesiology schedules, attributing this situation to the reduced availability of professionals and the nationwide shortage of anesthesiologist doctors. The unit stated that it has implemented specific service adjustments and made efforts to strengthen human resources, promoting the recruitment of specialists and using retired doctors.
The ULS São José was classified as a geographically underserved area for the specialty of anesthesiology in the Government's decree this year that provides incentives for doctors to be hired. The expectation is that, with the end of the traditional holiday period, the situation will gradually return to normal.
At the end of August, the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, admitted the lack of anesthesiologist doctors at the ULS São José and in other locations across the country, especially in the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo region. The statements came following an alert from the Southern Zone Medical Union about the severe shortage of anesthesiologists at that health unit.
