"With this military profile, the SIM expects him to be synonymous with great organizational capacity, planning and selflessness in solving problems, which is characteristic of the military. On the other hand, he has extensive experience in the area of emergencies, therefore, he also knows the problems of emergencies in our country well. We believe that in the short term he can make a positive 'contribution' to the organization", said the general secretary of the SIM, Nuno Rodrigues.

In statements to Lusa regarding the announcement of the appointment made today by the Ministry of Health, the union leader defended the importance in the medium term of the organizational capacity of Fernando Araújo's successor in the Executive Directorate.

"It will be essential for there to actually be network articulation and differentiation in terms of competitiveness and efficiency of the NHS. We cannot have, as until now, multiple NHS, in which citizens are treated differently depending on the region of the country where they live. Standardization is necessary and there must be only one NHS", he said.

The president of Fnam, Joana Bordalo e Sá, did not comment at length on the profile of the Government's appointment to the Executive Directorate, preferring to highlight the current context of difficulties in the NHS and the responses that she considered necessary.

"This executive director and his team - which we do not yet know - have a big problem on their hands, which is dealing with an NHS that is facing immense difficulties", she noted, wishing "the best of luck" to António Gandra d'Almeida.

Joana Bordalo e Sá also recalled the shortage of doctors in primary health care, in hospitals and in public health, and noted that the reinforcement of human resources and the improvement of remuneration and working conditions by the Government are indispensable.

"The main difficulty of this executive director is trying to make omelettes without eggs, because there is a lack of health professionals. Doctors continue to leave every day for the private sector and for emigration, because they offer much higher remuneration and working conditions than we have in the NHS, while this is not guaranteed, we will not be able to have complete and motivated teams", she said.

The Ministry of Health announced today that it has chosen the 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 Emergency (INEM), is commander of the Health Group, carries out hospital and pre-hospital care and that in the Armed Forces he has 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 Postgraduate Degree in Military Health, a master's degree in disaster medicine and a specialty in General Surgery, as well as competence in Health Services Management, Emergency and Military Medicine by the Order of Doctors.

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 information released by the ministry.

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

Also Read: OE highlights "experience and decision-making capacity" of the new director of the NHS (Portuguese version)