A group of users, family members and concerned citizens from the Autonomous Region of Madeira has issued an open letter describing what it calls a situation of “extreme seriousness and humanitarian urgency” within the Non-Urgent Patient Transport Service operated by the Regional Health Service of Madeira (SESARAM, EPE). The signatories allege an “operational collapse, negligence and harmful management” that is having a direct impact on some of the Region’s most vulnerable residents.
According to the statement, there has been a “massive cancellation” of transport for patients with reduced or no mobility, including amputees and bedridden individuals, preventing many from attending essential medical appointments and rehabilitation sessions. The group also claims that the service’s “total logistical inoperability” is delaying the discharge of patients who have already been medically cleared to leave hospital, resulting in prolonged hospital stays and contributing to increasing pressure on emergency departments and inpatient wards.
The open letter attributes the situation to both a deteriorating vehicle fleet and a shortage of personnel. It claims that “half of SESARAM’s public fleet of ambulances and vans is currently out of service” and alleges that no new ambulance crews have been recruited for approximately six years. According to the signatories, this prolonged recruitment freeze has left existing teams severely overstretched.
The group further alleges that the deterioration of the public service is being allowed to continue to encourage greater reliance on private providers. It claims there has been a “deliberate dismantling of public capacity” and questions what it describes as the “illegal and harmful management of public funds.” The statement also alleges that the volume of services provided by the private company Madeira Health Care now exceeds that of the public fleet. In addition, it criticises the use of taxis for patient transport, arguing that they are unsuitable for safely transporting bedridden patients or those with significant mobility restrictions.
The signatories state that they have formally notified all political parties represented in both the Regional Legislative Assembly and the Portuguese Parliament, including Together for the People (JPP), CHEGA, the Socialist Party (PS), New Right (ND), the Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), the Portuguese Labour Party (PTP), Liberal Initiative (IL), LIVRE and PAN.
They also say that the Board of Directors of SESARAM, the Clinical Directorate, the Office of the Regional Secretary for Health and Civil Protection, and the Office of the Regional Secretariat for Inclusion, Labour and Youth have been informed: “as a matter of urgency”. According to the statement, the complaint has also been forwarded to the competent judicial authorities.
The group is calling for what it describes as an “immediate, firm and uncompromising supervisory intervention” by the Regional Government and SESARAM, arguing that “institutional passivity translates into complicity in the face of this attack on human dignity”.
JPP says concerns confirm long-standing warnings:
Responding to the allegations, Together for the People (JPP) said the public complaint confirms the concerns it has repeatedly raised about the operation of SESARAM’s Non-Urgent Patient Transport Service.
“The most vulnerable citizens of our Region are becoming victims of an attack on human dignity through the inertia and complicity of the Regional Government,” the party said in a statement. JPP argued that the reported cancellation of transport for amputees and bedridden patients, together with delays in transferring medically discharged patients from hospital due to logistical failures, represents a serious breakdown that is placing additional pressure on emergency services.
The party maintained that the current situation is “not an isolated accident, but the culmination of a dismantling process” about which it says it has repeatedly warned in the Regional Parliament. It further claimed that the use of private transport providers is compounded by delays in payments to taxi drivers who undertake patient transport, alleging that repeated validation and payment failures by SESARAM have placed many drivers under financial strain.
Concluding its statement, JPP said it “refuses to accept that public funds are used to support private businesses while public capacity is allowed to deteriorate and patients are left without the care they require.”
SESARAM had not responded to the allegations at the time of publication.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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