"There is a discussion that Portuguese society must have: the abandonment of the elderly by their families. In my own unit, in Sintra, I was surprised, because, out of a total of 59 users assigned to the National Network of Continuing Care, 27 -- almost 50% - are abandoned by their families. This puts great pressure on the system, especially at the hospital level, hence the number of social cases is increasing", said José Bourdain to the Lusa agency.

In a reaction to the data from the 8th edition of the Barometer of Social Hospitalizations (BIS), which revealed that until March 20 there were 2,164 beds occupied in the National Health Service (SNS) with social hospitalizations - 11% more than in the same period of 2023, with a cost of more than 68 million euros for the State -, the leader of ANCC also highlights a problem of "underfunding" and warns of the closure of beds.

"The Government does not pay the amounts that are due: the minimum wage increases, costs increase with inflation, but then, in the corresponding amounts, the Government does not give us this revenue and the fact is that in the last three years 307 beds have closed in continuing care and there are several units on the verge of closing, completely desperate. This removed 307 more beds from the system by the end of last year", he emphasizes.

José Bourdain assures that he was not surprised by the BIS data, which justified the increase in social hospitalizations with delays in admission to the National Network of Continuing Care (RNCCI) and Residential Structures for the Elderly (ERPI), but recalls that it is not only in public hospitals that this burden is felt.

"In continuing care itself, there are about 37% of social cases. If in hospitals it is 11%, in continuing care it is 37%... if these people left continuing care, because they have also already had clinical and social discharge, vacancies would immediately open up for these [almost] 2,200 cases of social hospitalizations that exist in hospitals", he adds.

The president of ANCC also highlights that an increase in government investment in payments for continuing care, nursing homes and home support "largely compensates" for the current expenditure in the face of this phenomenon and points out short- and medium-term solutions.

"An immediate way to help solve the problem, because it is the fastest and cheapest way, is to create vacancies in home support. That alone will help free up a few hundred hospital beds and it is already worth it. Then, because it will take longer, it is to create more vacancies in nursing homes and in continuing care, because only then will we solve the problem of social cases in hospitals and in continuing care", he concludes.

The BIS was presented today at the Northern Rehabilitation Center, in Valadares, and was carried out by the Portuguese Association of Hospital Administrators (APAH), in partnership with the consulting firm EY Portugal and with the institutional support of the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine and the Association of Social Service Professionals.

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