Having said that waiting in an ambulance for four hours was reasonable, the Regional Secretary for Health and Civil Protection, Pedro Ramos held a press conference this afternoon, stating that the Bom Jesus Health Centre will provide emergency care/services between 4 pm and midnight.
The Health Secretary went on to say that at the moment large numbers of people are requiring assistance from A & E departments of both the main hospital and other health centres, and that on one day alone, four hundred people needed some form of urgent medical attention. The Machico Health Centre, alone administered assistance to 200 people in one day.
During the conference, Pedro Ramos confirmed that as of Monday, Funchal will have an additional facilities which will be able to provide emergency care, and that everything has been done to take advantage of the Regional Health System, so as not to have problems in obstetrics and neonatology, contrary to what is happening at the national level. This of course refers to the death of a baby at the Hospital das Caldas da Rainha on Wednesday due to the obstetrics emergency facility being closed. The case is now under investigation.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
