PTI

Lisbon, September 1

The tragic demise of a pregnant Indian lady in Portugal whereas being shifted between crisis-hit hospitals right here has led to the resignation of the nation’s well being minister Marta Temido whereas authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

The 34-year-old Indian lady reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest throughout an ambulance switch from Santa Maria hospital, which had no vacancies within the neonatology service, to a different hospital within the capital.

It follows a string of incidents this summer season that critics blame on a staffing disaster throughout Portuguese natal items, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Temido had been the well being minister since 2018, and is credited with steering Portugal via the covid-19 pandemic.

But on Tuesday, the federal government stated in an announcement that Temido had “realised that she no longer had the conditions to remain in office”.

Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa stated the lady’s demise was “the last straw” that led to Temido’s resignation, the report quoted Portugal’s Lusa information company as saying.

“I am grateful for all the work carried out by Dr. Marta Temido, especially in the exceptional period of combating the COVID19 pandemic. The @govpt continue the ongoing reforms with a view to strengthening the SNS and improving healthcare provided to the Portuguese,” Costa, an Indian-origin chief, stated in a tweet.

His remarks got here after a storm of criticism over the Portuguese authorities’s dealing with of employees shortages in maternity items, by quickly closing a few of them and forcing pregnant girls to endure dangerous transfers between hospitals.

Local media reported that the pregnant vacationer died whereas being moved from Lisbon’s Santa Maria Hospital – the most important in Portugal – as a result of its neonatology unit was full.

Her child was delivered in good well being following an emergency caesarean part, authorities stated. An investigation into the lady’s demise had been launched, the report stated.

There have been comparable incidents throughout Portugal in current months – together with the separate deaths of two infants whose moms had apparently been transferred between hospitals and endured lengthy delays, it stated.

Portugal’s scarcity of well being employees, particularly these specialising in gynaecology and obstetrics, has led to the federal government contemplating hiring from overseas.

The closure of some natal items has led to overflowing maternity wards and lengthy wait occasions, with opposition events, docs and nurses pointing blame on the former well being minister.

Speaking to native outlet RTP, the chair of the Portuguese docs affiliation Miguel Guimaraes stated Temido give up as a result of she didn’t have any means of resolving the present disaster – earlier than happening to reward her document in workplace.

However, Gustavo Tato Borges, the president of Portugal’s public well being affiliation, advised RTP he didn’t anticipate her resignation, and was “surprised” that she had stepped down whereas there are “acute problems” within the well being sector.