The leader of the Liberal Initiative (IL), Mariana Leitão, said this Saturday that she sees health reforms as “quick band-aids” that do not solve the sector’s structural problems, stating that she still “does not understand” the change in INEM’s leadership.
“We look forward to it. We really want there to be structural reforms in health, [mas] It doesn’t seem to me that these are actually structural reforms – it seems to me that they are issues to be resolved, once again, situations that need to be resolved, but they are basically band-aids that will not structurally solve health problems”, said Mariana Leitão.
Speaking to the Lusa agency on the sidelines of the congress of European liberals, in Brussels, the official pointed out that the National Health Service (SNS) “is not responding” to needs, and that it is necessary to “reform the system itself”.
On Friday, the Government announced that it had approved 11 diplomas in the area of health with measures such as the creation of regional emergencies under the responsibility of hospital administrations, the establishment of high-performance centers in gynecology and obstetrics, a new system for managing waiting lists, rules for hiring regular doctors and the creation of a Unit to Combat Fraud in the NHS (with criminal investigation powers to be subsequently reinforced).
“I haven’t understood the reasons yet. The president of INEM has been moving very quickly, but INEM continues to have serious problems with resources, the way its own human resources are organized, a lack of specialized people”, said Mariana Leitão.
“There is a set of problems here that really needed to be resolved. I don’t think a simple change of president can resolve this”, said the IL leader.
The Ministry of Health confirmed the replacement of the president of INEM, Sérgio Janeiro, having chosen for the position one of the other two candidates who had been validated by the Recruitment and Selection Committee for Public Administration.
It also adopted the legal regime that creates the regional emergenciesannounced today the Minister of Health, who predicts that the first one could start on the Setúbal Peninsula at the beginning of 2026.
He also approved the creation of a Commission to Combat Fraud in the National Health Service, which aims to achieve savings of around 800 million euros, the Minister of Health announced today.
In the Council of Ministers, the Government also approved the creation of a new system of access to consultations and surgeries, which will allow patients to monitor their position on the waiting list and choose the hospital where they want to be treated.
The president of the Liberal Initiative, Mariana Leitão, was in Brussels for the first time this Saturday as party president at the Congress of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
In his intervention, he highlighted the need for the European Union to diversify its supplies so as not to depend on third parties and to reduce bureaucracy in order to compete economically.
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