‘There is an exodus’: Portuguese doctors struggle amid worker shortage

euronews (in English)

Portuguese doctors are demanding better working conditions and higher pay. They are among many healthcare workers in Europe that are concerned about the public sector.

Transcript

00:00 Portuguese doctors are seeking higher pay and fewer overtime hours.

00:06 Protesting outside a conference hosted by the World Health Organization and Portuguese

00:10 government, the doctors demanded more support for health workers.

00:14 They are deeply concerned about the state of Portugal's national health service, with

00:18 doctors stretched so thin that many people are lacking a general practitioner and some

00:24 hospital services are now closing.

00:27 The medical doctors in Portugal want to be in the NHS.

00:31 Unfortunately, since our salaries are so low and our working conditions are so bad, the

00:36 government is not listening to us, is doing nothing to keep us in the NHS.

00:42 So it's their entire responsibility for this ugly situation.

00:48 We have a lot of patients for each medical doctor.

00:53 We would like to have fewer patients in our list because this way we could have more time

00:59 to be with them and take care of them.

01:03 And that is also one of the things we are fighting for.

01:08 Their demands are similar to those in the United Kingdom and France, where medical workers

01:12 have also urged the government to hire more doctors and raise wages.

01:17 The Portuguese government has been negotiating with the unions, but so far there is no agreement

01:22 with future strikes planned.

01:25 We are trying to make an agreement with trade unions.

01:28 Of course it's never an easy issue.

01:31 And try to promote new ways of organization.

01:34 Healthy doctors, healthy people.

01:36 That's the chant coming from Portuguese doctors today outside the World Health Organization's

01:41 Symposium on Digital Health Systems.

01:44 Like in many other European countries, Portuguese health workers say that they want a public

01:49 system that's better funded with more doctors.

01:52 They say their colleagues are going to the private sector and even moving to other countries,

01:57 and they want the government and the health ministry to hear their concerns.

02:02 Lauren Chadwick, Euronews.

02:03 [WHOOSH]

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