The PS questioned the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, about the decision of the Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Algarve to prevent workers of the institution from maintaining their employment ties while attending the Medical degree at the University of Algarve, asking the Government to clarify the legal basis for the measure.
The issue arises from public statements by the President of the Board of Directors of ULS Algarve, Tiago Botelho, who considered the attendance of the Medical degree by workers of the institution incompatible, invoking an alleged "holding of multiple positions." PS MPs defend that this interpretation raises doubts regarding its legal framework, namely regarding the possibility of attending a higher education course being classified as a situation of holding multiple positions.
The parliamentarians want to know if the decision is compatible with the student-worker legal regime and whether a board of directors can establish, through an internal position, a general prohibition that does not expressly result from the law. The PS also requests that the deliberation or guidance supporting the ULS Algarve's decision be forwarded.
The PS alerts to the difficulties in attracting, training, and retaining doctors in the Algarve, a region that faces significant problems in the National Health Service (SNS). According to MP Vítor Guerreiro, the workers in question are professionals who decided to continue their training at a public university created to meet the region's needs, but "instead of being incentivized to qualify and remain in the Algarve, they are being confronted with a choice between their employment and their academic path." The PS also recalls that, in 2017, the Central Hospital of the Algarve was classified as a university hospital to strengthen the link between clinical practice and training.
