The pandemic has shown that health workforce planning is insufficient, professional organization is outdated and there is no career that stimulates talent, according to the Portuguese Observatory of Health Systems (OPSS).
In the Spring 2022 report, What Now? OPSS also highlights the importance of having a degree in public health.
“It was all too obvious how ignorant it was to not have a public health degree for a long time (and keep going…) as the basis for the necessary ‘army’ in response to routine and, when necessary, to crises. in the field of healthcare. “says Enrique Barros of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and author of the first chapter of the document entitled ‘What the pandemic has done to us’.
In the Spring 2022 report, the expert also argues that the years of the pandemic have demonstrated the centrality of the health workforce, the need for proper training and a fair and reasonable distribution of human resources across geographic space.
The document highlights the lack of health care assistance, citing that “important intervention points” were missed, and mentions that “preventive and curative approaches that may affect future incidence” have been unnecessarily shelved.
“It is important to understand the extent to which care has not adapted to this fear. [de recorrer aos cuidados de saúde em casos não covid]which has led to a lack of demand, bordering on a violation of medical care,” the expert believes, warning: “Specialists who evaluate the attitude towards them will naturally have to study and revise the protocols for future actions in the context of future epidemics or simply an exacerbation of the number of cases that may arise. with covid-19.”
Noting the decline and even the cessation of screening and delays in diagnosis, he acknowledges that when cases of infection (…) or non-communicable diseases such as cancer are detected, for which, he emphasizes, “there is a clear recovery”, arguing that the pandemic will be directly or indirectly “associated with complaints and clinical conditions that require care.”
In addition to the so-called “long covid,” he insists, “disorders of varying degrees of severity are manifested, ranging from sleep disorders to complex mental disorders.”
“The lack of quantification and planning to respond to this situation, and how to finally make hospital epidemiological centers or clinical units dedicated to emerging diseases, can only be seen as an unacceptable lack of vision on how to organize healthcare,” he emphasizes.
He also believes that organization “is the key to success” and that one should not insist on “the unacceptable idea of false emergencies”: “if the message can be acceptable to those who design services and access to them (…) what is required, so it’s not blaming the victim.”
“It is quite possible to hope (…) for a path that progressively rationalizes access to health care and in which telecommunications can play an important role,” the document says, emphasizing that during the pandemic it was obvious that “it would not be much to make work the full potential of information technology.
The OPSS report also states that the pandemic has revealed “a real lack of a school health strategy and independent intervention plans in schools.”
He argues that this is the only way to help overcome “another social inequality”, emphasizing: “public and private institutions tend to offer very different conditions at this level, although, it must be said, very limited and essentially curative in the private offer” .
As early as the first chapter, Enrique Barros refers to the reaction of the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly living in homes, emphasizing that much of what has changed in the prognosis for these people is due to vaccination policy.
“It is important to be prepared both for timely revaccination and, above all, for alternative actions in the face of any possible reduction in vaccine protection,” he warns.
Lack of strategic leadership
OPSS also points to a lack of health stewardship and says it is necessary to respond intelligently to emerge from the pandemic-aggravated crisis with greater resilience.
In the Spring 2022 Report, OPSS lays out the biggest challenges for the National Health Service (SNS), points to “recent and ambitious” response efforts that are included in the National Health Service (SNS) Bylaws and Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), but insists on the need to determine the structural strategic orientation of the sector.
“What is the structural strategic orientation that you intend to pursue in the field of healthcare?” ask the authors of the Spring 2022 Report. — “What now?”, a document in the form of a question, which also offers some answers.
The document immediately points out the three main SNS issues – access to health care, human resources and public health – and lists “response attempts” such as mental health reform, digitalization of health care, the Health Basic Law. and the SNS Statute, full dedication “only for some professionals” and the establishment of local health systems.
Taking digitalization in healthcare as an example, the experts are asking on what basis the model of care will be developed, how it will stimulate transformation and how it will promote three fundamental principles: centralization of care in the individual/family, integration and continuity of care.
They recall that work to recreate the SNA and the health system has not yet taken place, also taking some blame for the lack of proposals in the midst of a pandemic, but admit: “Perhaps the time was too noisy, too demanding, necessary responses to the most urgent and urgent, no time to think.”
“Perhaps the foundations for such an answer should have been laid earlier, in a calmer time,” the authors say.
Regarding the Basic Health Law, the observatory says it remains to be seen what architecture is intended for the future of the Portuguese healthcare system. “If in fact the private and social sectors are supposed to be complementary, there is no clear indication of how the SNS will respond to the greatest needs, which will prevent continued access to private services with serious financial consequences for families. be indispensable,” he emphasizes.
The authors of the Spring 2022 Report also insist: “And there is a lack of guidance on how to properly manage this complementarity, ensuring the quality and value of care in the social and private sectors, which are generally opaque and control over which seems to be completely withdrawn from the state.”
In a document full of questions, they also remind that it remains to be seen what strategy will be adopted “for a healthier and more prosperous population, regardless of economic and social status.”
Another question that is said to remain unanswered is how to attract, motivate and retain healthcare professionals: “How will total dedication, a central point in the new SNA Statute, be implemented, and will this model apply to all professionals?” .
The authors also have many doubts about the innovations that the pandemic has contributed to, remembering: “It remains to be seen how the digitalization of healthcare, a central and promising point of the PDP, will develop.”
“How can digital health effectively become a central contribution to the integration and continuity of person/family-centered care? Will digital health be a tool that will allow us to increase our ability to respond to current and future pandemics?” they continue to say. question .
In terms of home health care, they say it’s also unclear whether this would be “a way to strengthen and improve the response” and whether informal/family caregivers would be given the better conditions they consider “essential for a home care strategy.”
Finally, they argue, it remains to be seen “what will happen to other innovations from the worst times of the pandemic”, such as access to medicines, mechanisms to support the development and rapid evaluation of tests and vaccines, and adaptation. processes to the fact that this innovation is available to everyone.
The Portuguese Observatory of Health Systems is made up of a network of researchers and academic institutions dedicated to the study of health systems and produces annually a concise report on the evolution of the Portuguese health system.
Method Media Bermuda will present the documentary FABRIC: Portuguese History in Bermuda on Thursday, December 29 at the Underwater Research Institute of Bermuda.
A spokesperson said: “Method Media is proud to bring Bermuda Fabric: Portugal History to Bermuda for its 5th and 6th showing at the Bermuda Underwater Observatory. In November and December 2019, Cloth: A Portuguese Story in Bermuda had four sold-out screenings. Now that Bermuda has reopened after the pandemic, it’s time to bring the film back for at least two screenings.
“There are tickets Ptix.bm For $ 20 – sessions at 15:30 and 18:00. Both screenings will be followed by a short Q&A session.
Director and producer Milton Raboso says, “FABRIC is a definitive account of the Portuguese community in Bermuda and its 151 years of history, but it also places Bermuda, Acors and Portugal in the world history and the events that have fueled those 151 years.
“It took more than 10 years to implement FABRIC. The film was supported by the Minister of Culture, the Government of the Azores and private donors.
“Bermuda Media Method [MMB] Created in 2011 by producer Milton Raposo. MMB has created content for a wide range of clients: Bermuda’s new hospital renovation, reinsurance, travel campaigns, international sports and more. MMB pays special attention to artistic, cultural and historical content.
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Maestro Filipe Cunha, Artistic Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Braga, has been invited to conduct the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra, as announced today.
According to a statement sent by O MINHO, “he will be the first Portuguese conductor to conduct this orchestra in its entire history.”
In addition to this orchestra, the maestro will also work with the Lyceo Mozarteum de la Habana Symphony Orchestra.
The concerts will take place on 4 and 12 March 2023 at the National Theater of Cuba in Havana.
In the words of the maestro, quoted in the statement, “these will be very beautiful concerts with difficult but very complex pieces” and therefore he feels “very motivated”.
From the very beginning, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 will be performed by an Italian pianist (Luigi Borzillo), whom the maestro wants to bring to Portugal later this year. In the same concert, Mendelshon’s First Symphony will be performed.
Then, at the second concert, in the company of the Mexican clarinetist Angel Zedillo, he will perform the Louis Sfora Concerto No. 2. In this concert, the maestro also conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.
“This is an international recognition of my work. An invitation that I accept with humility and great responsibility. I was surprised to learn that I would be the first Portuguese member of the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. This is a very great honor,” the maestro said in a statement.
“I take with me the name of the city of Braga and Portugal with all the responsibility that goes with it, and I hope to do a good job there, leaving a good image and putting on great concerts. These will be very special concerts because, in addition to performing pieces that I love, especially Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, I will be directing two wonderful soloists who are also my friends. It will be very beautiful,” concludes Filipe Cunha.