According to newspaper Diário de Notícias, the waiting list management system SIGIC presently puts maximum
waiting times at up to 270 days, or nine months.
The only exception to the general rule is oncology, for which waiting times should be no longer than 60 days.
The recommendations were made over the weekend during a congress on cardiology held on Saturday and Sunday in the Algarve and the Ministry of Health has responded by saying it is committed to reducing waiting times for both care and consultations.
“The objective of the recommendations is to call attention to waiting times and to ask the Ministry for positive discrimination, as happens with oncology. We have waiting times that can reach nine months and sometimes more. We want these figures to be closer to international practices,” said Pedro Neves, president of the Portuguese Society of Cardiothoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
The 36th Congress of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology was accredited by the European Board for Accreditation in Cardiology and the Portuguese Medical Association.
In an open letter introducing the Congress Dulce Brito, president of the Scientific and Organising Committee of the 36th Portuguese Congress of Cardiology, said “Nowadays, not only is the progression of science swift but the spread of knowledge happens at breakneck centrifugal spiral. The constant update of knowledge in cardiovascular medicine is a necessity and the Congress is the largest national event of continuing medical education in this area.”
And, she stressed, “In a changing world, with enormous possibilities in the areas of diagnosis and therapy, the intervention must be conducted in accordance not only with scientific evidence, but also appropriately with the context of the patient. The scientific programme of the Congress was organised based on these concepts, with innovation having a central role.”
This news comes as it emerged that the Algarve has been found lacking when it comes to control over hypertension – which if sustained over time can be one of the main contributing factors of heart disease and strokes.
The recent report has found that the southern region is the worst off region in Portugal when it comes to controlling high blood pressure.
A lack of access to family doctors was one of the main reasons put forward by the doctors and authors of the report.
Epidemiological studies in Portugal indicate there is a prevalence of hypertension of close to 42 percent, with the figures for treatment and control varying significantly in terms of regions.