"The colleagues do not accept to do more overtime work. The exhaustion is tremendous and the absenteeism increases because the overload conditions lead to 'burnout'. These colleagues, besides the overtime work that is paid, have 23 thousand hours in debit", said the coordinator of the general management of the Porto SEP, Fátima Monteiro.

At the door of the IPO of Porto, where this morning about two dozen nurses are concentrated, the appeals are for better working conditions and a better National Health Service (SNS).

In addition to SEP flags, the nurses hold posters with phrases such as "It is not enough to pay for overtime work. It is urgent to admit more nurses" or "Scheduled overtime work, no" and "Having a life of your own = 35 hours per week".

To Lusa, Fátima Monteiro described situations of overtime, giving examples of nurses who work 12 consecutive hours or are called on their days off.

"The nurses feel discriminated against in relation to other health professionals. Everyone does overtime work, but some get paid for it and the nurses do not. The structural deficit of nurses is at stake. There are about 100 nurses missing in this hospital to provide a quality and safe response to the users", said the union leader.

According to the SEP, there are nurses at the IPO of Porto who "have already started to submit statements saying that they are not available to do more overtime work", a scenario to which, said Fátima Monteiro, the board of directors is not unaware.

"The board of directors does not find solutions. It complains that it is the government itself that does not authorize it", she said, pointing out that between 400 and 500 nurses at the IPO of Porto are in a situation of overload.

The Lusa agency contacted the administration of the IPO of Porto, which guaranteed that, in this hospital, all the work that the nursing professionals carry out beyond the contracted hours "is remunerated in overtime work, regardless of whether they are morning, afternoon or night shifts, and whether they are carried out on weekdays or rest days, regardless of the professional group".

"However, the payment of overtime work is never paid in the same month in which it is carried out, so that the due verification and correct processing can be carried out. It is therefore false that the IPO of Porto has more than 22,000 overtime hours worked and that were not paid", it guaranteed.

Recognizing that it has to resort to overtime work, the board of directors said that it is implementing work reorganization measures to seek to reduce the dependence on the use of overtime hours.

"However, it will only be possible to solve this need with the hiring of more professionals. It is important to emphasize that, since December 2022, the IPO of Porto has not obtained authorization for new nursing positions", reads the response sent to Lusa.

Also according to data from the administration of this oncological hospital, the IPO of Porto has 806 nurses, of which 71 are fixed-term contracts to replace temporary absences.

The hospital added that "there are no nurses hired on a fixed-term basis to meet the permanent needs of the institution", rejecting the criticisms about the lack of professionals to guarantee quality care

"We inform you that the safety and quality of the health care provided to the oncological patient at the IPO of Porto is ensured", it concluded.

Leia Também: Sindicato considera inadmissível despedimento de enfermeiros em duas ULS (Portuguese version)