A group of experts recommends the creation of two more heart surgery centers in Portugal, outside of Lisbon and Porto. They warn that it is the only way to reduce waiting times in one of the most critical specialties.
The recommendation is contained in the updated proposal of the Hospital Referral Network for Cardiac Surgery and is in the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service document.
“At the moment, cardiac surgery is centered in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra, in mainland Portugal and we also have a center in Funchal. In fact, this is very centralized. Most hospitals in the Interior don’t even have a cardiology service”, he explained , to SIC, the president of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology, Hélder Pereira.
To Público, the SNS working group stated that the centers will have to be created in the two large centers, Lisbon and Porto. One would be in the North, possibly in Braga, the other in the South of the country. The location will have to take into account criteria of population density and geographic distance.
The biggest concern will be the lack of professionals. There are few cardiac surgeons.
In Portugal, there are more than two thousand patients on the waiting list for cardiothoracic surgery. In some of these cases, patients have to wait more than four months.
