The president of the Portuguese Nurses Association (OE) highlighted the experience in medical emergencies of António Gandra d'Almeida, who was appointed today as the executive director of the NHS, while the Portuguese Nurses Union (SEP) hopes that he will be a partner in the search for solutions.

"It seems to me that he may have the right profile, taking into account that he is an operational field worker who is used to organization," Luís Filipe Barreira told Lusa news agency.

According to the president of the OE, António Gandra d'Almeida has "experience in medical emergencies and can count on the Association as a partner", reiterating the institution's commitment to "reforming, improving and moving forward with the resolution of problems that have been dragging on for decades" in the National Health Service (NHS).

"Regardless of the person, the important thing is that he manages to operationalize the strategy for health, operationalize the health policies that are necessary for reforms, in order to guarantee more access to health care, and, mainly, in a timely manner for people," he noted.

The president of the OE also said that he believes that the Ministry of Health "has a fundamental role in defining health policies" and that the DE-NHS "can operationalize these same health policies".

The SEP also subscribed to the importance of a "greater decision-making capacity" for the operationalization of measures in favor of a more agile functioning of the NHS, considering that "this was what was also lacking in the previous DE-NHS" led by Fernando Araújo.

"What we expect is that he will be a partner in finding solutions that allow for a better functioning of the NHS, its deepening and that guarantee better accessibility of people to the NHS, which is, at this moment, what is lacking, in addition to the improvement of equipment and the admission of human resources, which is another of the major problems," said union leader Guadalupe Simões.

The head of the SEP also defended that the new executive director see the NHS "as a whole", calling for a reinforcement of health promotion and disease prevention, in order to reduce the influx of people to hospitals, especially to emergencies.

"We hope that the new DE will start the house from its foundations: guaranteeing people's accessibility to primary health care, with the promotion of family health teams, and that then he will continue building and giving guidance towards improving the functioning of other structures," she concluded.

The Ministry of Health announced today that it has chosen 44-year-old doctor António Gandra d'Almeida to replace Fernando Araújo as executive director of the NHS and added that the lieutenant colonel has extensive experience in medical emergencies.

In a statement, the ministry indicates that the new head was director of the northern regional delegation of the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM), is commander of the Health Grouping, performs hospital and pre-hospital care activities and that in the Armed Forces he accumulated leadership and coordination functions.

António Gandra d'Almeida has an academic and professional specialization, highlighting the degree in the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the complementary training in the Military Academy, a Post-Graduation in Military Health, a master's degree in disaster medicine and a specialization in General Surgery, as well as competence in Health Services Management, Emergency and Military Medicine by the Order of Physicians.

The new executive director was responsible for the Green Lanes of the INEM Central Region, from 2014 to 2019, and was in charge of the installation and coordination of the Emergency and Resuscitation Medical Vehicle (VMER) of Barreiro, between 2016 and 2018, according to the information released by the ministry.

He also collaborated in various committees of the Army General Staff, the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Health.

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