Chega and PS call for political effects of the IGAS report

Chega and PS this Thursday called for political consequences regarding the conclusion of the IGAS report which states that the death of a man during the INEM strike in November 2024 could have been avoided.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting with the Government in parliament to define the date of the next local elections, Chega's parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, insisted that the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, “is not in a position to continue” and that it was a mistake to keep her in the executive after the last legislative elections.

“It is not enough for the Minister of Health to come to parliament and say ‘I take responsibility’. But what is the responsibility? The responsibility was to make her position available and leave this Government . In fact, she should never have joined this Government, we said this from the very beginning”, he added.

At issue is the IGAS's conclusion that the death of a man in November 2024, when the INEM strike took place, could have been avoided if he had been rescued within a minimum and reasonable time.

“It was concluded that the patient's death could have been avoided if there had been assistance, in a minimum and reasonable time, which made it possible to evacuate the victim via a Coronary Greenway to one of the nearest hospitals, where he could undergo coronary angioplasty in one of the respective Hemodynamic Units”, said the General Inspectorate of Health Activities (IGAS) in a statement released this Wednesday.

Pedro Delgado Alves, from the PS, considered that the Government cannot pass over the issue “without any consequences” at the political and administrative level , finding it strange that the executive “has not spoken out and has not said anything up until now” and has not explained to citizens the reasons for this failure and whether “it will draw political consequences”.

Delgado Alves asked the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, whether, now that a “significant failure in the management of the Ministry of Health” has been detected, the option of having Ana Paula Martins in charge of the Health portfolio remains.

The socialist also said that the party will comment in more detail on this matter this afternoon after “reading and analyzing the report has been completed”.

Hugo Soares, parliamentary leader of the PSD, defended what he says is the “great technical and political competence” of Ana Paula Martins to “return stability to the SNS” and value the careers of its professionals and the quality of the service, praising her achievements at the head of Health and criticizing the opposition for “not going a week without asking for the resignation of a minister”.

The PCP, through its parliamentary leader, Paula Santos, argued that there are “political responsibilities” to be taken away from this process , especially because INEM should be guaranteed resources that were not provided. “This cannot happen, there must be the workers that are needed to ensure prompt assistance to the population and, in fact, the operationality of emergency resources”, she added.

“This cannot happen, there must be the workers needed to ensure prompt assistance to the population and, in fact, the operationality of emergency resources,” he added.

Isabel Mendes Lopes, parliamentary leader of Livre, says that the Minister of Health must draw conclusions from the IGAS report, considering that INEM needs “ more resources ” and to be “much more resilient”.

Inês de Sousa Real, the PAN's only deputy, insisted that the Minister of Health “is not in a position to continue” because what happened during the INEM strike was “too serious”, regretting that Luís Montenegro kept Ana Paula Martins in the executive after the elections.

This case dates back to November 4, 2024, the day on which two strikes took place simultaneously — one by pre-hospital emergency technicians working overtime and another by public administration.