Two patients die in Portimão hospital A&E before seeing a doctor. The hospital and the IGAS inspectorate are investigating
Two patients have died in the accident and emergency department of Portimão hospital in the Algarve without ever being seen by a doctor. At around 4am on Wednesday, 4 November, an 87-year-old man was called in to be seen but did not respond: nurses found him unconscious in the waiting room. He had waited about 10 hours, according to the hospital's management; the mayor of Portimão says 12. According to the mayor, the second patient died after waiting about a day without seeing a doctor (Observador, DN).
The hospital is run by ULS do Algarve, the body that runs the region's public SNS hospitals and health centres. It has opened internal inquiries into both deaths and into a complaint from nurses about how the emergency department is organised. IGAS, the health inspectorate, has opened its own inquiry into the death of the 87-year-old man.
The mayor of Portimão, Álvaro Bila, called what happened “extremely serious” and asked the health minister, Ana Paula Martins, for an urgent meeting. ULS blames overcrowding in A&E on patients who remain in hospital for long periods because, although they are medically fit for discharge, they have nowhere to go. Heads of department have been told to move patients from A&E to their wards more quickly.
If your condition is not life-threatening, you can call the SNS 24 line on 808 24 24 24 before going to A&E: a nurse will tell you over the phone whether you need to go to hospital or whether a health centre will do. If someone's life is in danger, call 112.
