Lisbon, Jan. 27, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF) is to carry out an audit of the management and evaluation of human resources and expenditure of the national ambulance service, the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), from 2021 onwards, the government announced on Monday.
"The Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, have ordered the IGF to carry out an audit of INEM's operation, in the organisational, administrative and financial fields, with regard to the management and evaluation of human resources and the implementation of expenditure, which contribute to the development of its activity," reads a joint statement from the two ministries.
According to the executive, the audit will cover the years since 2021, without prejudice to the possibility of covering previous periods, with staff from the Inspectorate General of Health Activities (IGAS) and the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS) collaborating.
The two ministries say that the audit is needed because of "recent doubts raised about the functioning" of the institute, and that that a "mere analysis of the documentation generally made available" within the framework of the regular and legally established rendering of accounts is not enough.
"There is therefore a need to assess the conditions and terms of action of the respective services 'in loco' in order to obtain evidence that can support a clear and complete view of the situation," the statement adds.
By the end of March, the IGF should present a report with the results of the audit, "without prejudice to being able to continue monitoring the implementation of improvement measures deemed pertinent," the government adds.
The two ministries stress that INEM is a "critical body in the prompt and correct provision of health care to citizens in emergency situations" and that this justifies "permanent attention and assessment of its organisation and performance levels, in order to be able to adopt, in good time, the measures deemed necessary to minimise the risk of constraints on the provision of assistance."
At the request of the Ministry of Health, IGAS is also carrying out an audit of INEM, on the legality, regularity, economic and financial correctness of its operations, which was launched on 11 July and is currently in the adversarial phase.
The former president of INEM and the former member of the institute's board of directors asked IGAS to extend the time allowed for their responses to the report, for which the authorised deadline is 31 January.
In October, when she was heard in parliament, the minister of health acknowledged INEM's "deficient response" to the public and the shortage of resources, but said that the plan to "refound" the institute would only be drawn up after this audit.
Recently, the Ministry of Health announced that a senior judge, Leonor Furtado, is to chair the Independent Technical Commission that is to be charged with presenting a proposal for the "necessary re-founding" of INEM.
According to the ministry, the commission was created with the aim of studying and framing INEM's competences, with a view to presenting a "proposal for a critical organisational model, as part of the necessary re-foundation" of the institute, which coordinates Portugal's Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIEM).
In November, two simultaneous strikes - by the civil service and by INEM overtime technicians - led to the stoppage of dozens of emergency services and delays in answering emergency calls to the institute's centres.
These stoppages have highlighted the lack of human resources at the institute, with the minister calling in to her office direct oversight of the institute, which had been delegated to the secretary of state for health management.
PC/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
