The union wants to make a career for doctors in the penitentiary system and admits to the strike

This Monday, the Independent Doctors’ Union defended the creation of a career for doctors working in the penitentiary system, acknowledging the call for a strike due to the “serious situation” in this area.

“We expect the Department of Justice to respond quickly as the situation is serious and cannot be solved by hiring doctors service providers,” said Lusa, secretary general of SIM.

The Prison Hospital of São João de Deus, located in the municipality of Oeiras and not part of the National Health Service (SNS), is the only hospital in the penitentiary system of the country and provides specialized care to prisoners in all prisons, including in the field of psychiatry.

Jorge Roque da Cunha stressed that the decision to hire and retain more doctors in the penitentiary system is going through creating a career “like that of the National Health Service” rather than by temporarily hiring service providers.

The union leader explained that these doctors are not part of the SNA, but the solution could be “to do what has already been done in the Ministry of Defense, which is a collective agreement of the state employer.”

“Pairing a. growing number of people considered irresponsible in psychiatric hospitalsanother departure of psychiatrists [do sistema prisional] and the lack of recruitment of new specialists leads to an extremely serious situation,” SIM said in a statement.

The union also stressed that it has been warning “of the serious situation in the healthcare system in prisons” since 2019, taking into account that “there are signs of bankruptcy for a long time” in helping prisoners due to the lack of hiring of medical workers.

According to SIM, “two of the six psychiatrists left the penitentiary system because they could not tolerate such working conditions,” and “the four remaining doctors presented the Medical Association with justification for their responsibility almost a year ago.”

“Given the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to implement the decisions, despite the best efforts of the leaders of the indigenous peoples of the North, after several years with dozens of warnings and unanswered letters, we have no other choice but to consider the possibility of convening a medical meeting. strike in the name of protecting the health of prisoners and the safety of professionals,” the union said.