The President of the Government, Vasco Cordeiro, concluded on Wednesday the round of hearings for the collection of contributions to draft a Commitment for the Sustainability of the Regional Health Service (SRS), during which he received political parties represented at Parliament and social partners in the sector.

"Under the Commitment for the Sustainability of the SRS, we intend to define measures not only those set by the XI Regional Government, but also the measures for a period of 10/15 years so that the SRS may continue to ensure the access of all citizens to quality healthcare," stated Vasco Cordeiro.

Speaking to journalists at Sant'Ana Palace in Ponta Delgada, the President of the Government stressed that a document will be drafted based on the work carried out by the Government and the contributions provided by political parties and social partners. According to him, "this document which contains the definition of measures and the steps we intend to take will be then submitted to political parties and social partners for assessment."

This document should be ready by the end of April. However, Vasco Cordeiro admitted that political parties and social partners may have one month to issue their opinion on it in order to assure the conclusion of the final version of this document during the first half of this year.

Meanwhile, the President of the Government stressed that the sustainability of the Regional Health Service is not limited to the widely discussed financial aspects and funding issues. For the government official, "it is also very important and relevant to address the restructuring of the SRS."

"We understand that there are aspects resulting from technological developments, evolution in communications and changes in accessibility that have changed since the period when the Regional Health Service was structured and planned until the present moment and which have no impact on the SRS. We consider that this evolution should be reflected on the structuring of the Regional Health Service. We also believe that these aspects are an important contribution to increasingly improve the quality of the system," stated the President of the Government.

Vasco Cordeiro recalled that the Regional Government does not intend to reform the SRS because it is a bad service, but to "maintain a SRS that provides quality healthcare to all Azoreans."

The President of the Government assured that after this round of hearings, followed by the "reflection and analysis of the contributions for the structuring of services and the importance of reinforcing the knowledge and information on the actions of the Regional Health Service in order to strengthen strategic planning and the coordination between all areas of the SRS."
 
"All proposals that have been submitted will be analysed by the Regional Government. Nevertheless, I cannot say, because it would not be correct or realistic, that all proposals will be followed, but all will be analysed by the Regional Government," Vasco Cordeiro assured, adding that "the sustainability of the Regional Health Service is not just a Government's aspiration. All agents, professionals and entities that work with the SRS share the common goal of assuring the sustainability of the Regional Health Service."

Vasco Cordeiro also addressed the debts owed by the SRS, restating that the data "are public." The amounts have been confirmed by audits conducted by the General Inspectorate of Finances and the Court of Auditors.

With regard to the financial aspects of the SRS, the President of the Government highlighted three areas: the debts owed to suppliers, the debts and commitments to bank entities and the public-private partnerships established with the Regional Government, namely with Terceira Hospital.

Our priority goes to the debts owed to suppliers since the commitments to bank entities are stabilised within the estimates of the Government's action for this area," stressed the government official.

Vasco Cordeiro also considered that "the effort that we must undertake is not a challenge from a financial point of view; it is rather a challenge to improve the use of the resources allocated to RSR so that we may have quality service where each Euro is invested effectively and efficiently."

"We believe that further gains can be guaranteed within the SRS without compromising quality and the access of citizens to healthcare in archipelago," the President of the Government stressed, adding that the Azorean Government has set a challenge for itself - "work towards a more effective Regional Health Service."

Speaking to journalists, Vasco Cordeiro defended that one should not limit the sustainability of the Regional Health Sector to financial aspects. The President of the Government defended the importance of stressing that the Commitment for the Sustainability of the SRS "is not just about financial issues or getting funds to meet commitments; it is about the way how we think and structure the system as whole."