Health Minister battles for political survival
This week, in Parliament, Minister Ana Paula Martins took "full responsibility for what went wrong" during the INEM strike, during which eleven people may have died.
What?
Health Minister Ana Paula Martins is at risk of being dismissed following a crisis in Portugal’s emergency services (reported in our briefing last week), which dominated parliamentary debate this week.
Reports indicate that 11 deaths were linked to delays in emergency response caused by a strike by pre-hospital emergency technicians from the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM).
Although Martins initially claimed she was unprepared for the strike, it was later revealed that her office, as well as the Prime Minister’s office, had been notified twice by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians Union (STEPH) on October 10 - as demanded legally.
In Parliament on Tuesday, Martins accepted “full responsibility for what went wrong.”
“I don’t run away, I don’t lie and I don’t hide,’ added the Minister.
She also said that she placed INEM under her direct responsibility. She said she wants to dedicate 70% of her time to the institute, which has led to questions of who’s managing the rest of the national health system, SNS (which is facing many other issues, including a shortage of doctors).
Opposition wants her to go
But these statements did nothing to change the views of MPs, with the Socialist Party (PS) and far-right Chega calling for her to leave the government, just as the Left Block (BE) had already argued on Saturday.
“The Minister knew about this, she knew there was a strike, she didn’t do anything,” said Bloc leader Mariana Mortágua.
Socialist MP João Paulo Correia said in Parliament that Luís Montenegro should have sacked the minister or that she should have done so herself.
Rui Cristina, from Chega, said that the Minister had “failed”.
However, the Prime Minister guaranteed that her resignation was not in question. In a statement, Luís Montenegro said that “Ministers are in Government to solve problems”.
President Marcelo
On Thursday, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa urged a thorough investigation into the handling of the strike, emphasizing that potential administrative and political responsibilities must be identified, stating it should be done “no matter who it affects.”
Speaking from Cuenca, Ecuador, where he is attending the 29th Ibero-American Summit, the President said, “We need to determine why this happened, who should have acted but didn’t, and who acted incorrectly—both at the administrative and political levels.”
When asked if he believed there were administrative or political failings in this case, Rebelo de Sousa responded, “We’ll see. If there are administrative and political responsibilities, they must be acknowledged.”
He recalled his previous comments during the Tancos scandal, using the phrase “no matter who it affects,” highlighting the need for accountability at every level, including when actions were delayed or mishandled.
The President also addressed criticism for not intervening directly in this case involving the Health Minister, as he had done with other Ministers during the previous PS government.
Rebelo de Sousa defended his stance, saying, “I think that’s very unfair, because I was among the first to speak out.”
Background
Problems in the Portuguese National Health Service are obviously not new and they are a sensitive political issue - like in many other places.
The difference is that PM Montenegro made fixing the SNS a centrepiece of his electoral platform.
Though he now refuses to dismiss his Minister, he asked for the resignation of previous Health Ministers several times for, arguably, less serious situations - and this has now come to haunt him.
Fact-checker Polígrafo noted this week that Luís Montenegro wrote on social networks: “These are all indications, unfortunately, that we have a hesitant Government, a Government that has no direction, aGovernment that has no capacity, that will not transform or reform.”
Moreover, this recent strike has aggravated the position of a Minister who has been weakened since the closure of several maternity wards this summer due to a lack of doctors to fill the rotation.
At the time, a pregnant woman had to travel 170 kilometres to find an emergency room available to receive her.