Hospital d’Oeste – Observer

The creation of the Hospital d’Oeste has indeed been widely discussed, but with biased “studies” and, at times, sterile and unfounded discussions.

Resisting the temptation to recount the entire transformation process in choosing the site of the hospital mentioned above and risk being labeled as having a too Kafkaesque point of view, I would like to share with you a speculative thought on this issue.

The Minister of Health publicly announced the new location of the Hospital d’Oeste, a political decision because if it were administrative, it would be illegal, as he awaits the final changes in PROT-OVT in order to accommodate the regional planning instruments of the territory. Decide if you want to take it now.

On the other hand, I have no doubt that a wise and well-founded decision would undoubtedly have led to the identification of a position between Caldas da Rainha and Óbidos.

I remember the “engineering” that was used to justify the decision, namely the annexation of the south of the municipality of Alcobaca (ie São Martinho, Alvisirao and Benedita) to the ULS of Leiria to shift the central reference or the inclusion of the municipalities of the south of Torres Vedras that have already declared that they do not accept to be part of the equation.

Moreover, the outcome of the government-commissioned hospital referral study and its consequences and/or relevance to decisions such as those we discuss here are not yet known.

The establishment of a Local Sanitary Unit (ULS) for the entire West also demonstrates the complete lack of knowledge of the region and such a backwardness of the situation, which prompts me to leave a question here: Shouldn’t two be established first, a ULS of West-North and West-South?

In any case, whatever the future reality, we cannot allow Hospital das Caldas da Rainha to collapse. In this sense, their rehabilitation must be prioritized clearly, decisively, effectively and quickly, in order to guarantee continuity of care in the hospital for thousands of users.

The current situation of the National Health Service represents a danger for all Portuguese people, but especially for all those who cannot resort to a health subsystem, such as ADSE or health insurance. Unfortunately, the most unprotected groups are increasingly threatened by the health care system. Lack of assistance and falling into the trap of relying on public services.

In the West, what is happening in primary care and in the CHO (Centro Hospitalar do Oeste) is scandalous, where services are closed week after week, like the entire SNS, and patients are turned away. The removal of the hospital from Caldas da Rainha, in addition to being dishonest, is the largest attack ever carried out by the government against the people of Caldas.

The decline of the SNS is today an inescapable reality with a face worthy of a horror movie with a destructive and frightening management resulting from Bakokian socialism, leading us to question two cumulative aspects.

First, the inclusion in the 2024 state budget of launching a tender for the construction of the new Hospital d’Oeste leaves room for doubt about the intention or lack thereof to establish a public-private partnership, which must be taken into account even to speed up the process. Paying attention to this same speed, it will be important to understand that the Caldas da Rainha/Óbidos site is unrestricted, meaning that it allows you to move forward quickly without restrictions.

The second question, which should move us to a more reflective thought, is to understand the rationale for the new Hospital d’Oeste in the context of the current catharsis that the SNS is going through.

After overcoming these issues, dogmas and engineering, let’s stop the nonsense and be rational because the Hospital do Oeste makes sense to be built between Caldas da Rainha and Óbidos.