The Regional Secretary for Health has decided to change the rules on the incentives for the establishment of doctors and the movement of medical specialists to islands without hospital.
 
"The commitment is to present specific proposals during the month of April to present concrete proposals to associations and unions regarding the movement of specialists and the incentives to the establishment of doctors," said the government official.
 
Rui Luís spoke in Angra do Heroísmo on the sidelines of a meeting with the President of the Medical Board of the Portuguese Medical Association. In this regard, he highlighted the harmony between the Medical Association and the Government's Department about the need for changes.
 
After completing the round of meetings with representatives of health professionals, the Regional Secretariat intends to present a proposal for legislative change to unions and associations.
 
As for medical specialists, he stated that "we have many patients that are currently travelling for medical care and we want them to be assisted on their own island," defended the government official.
 
The Secretary for Health clarified that "we cannot have all specialties on all the islands" and what "matters is to solve the system regulating the movement of specialists to ensure the accessibility of all Azorean to specialties."
 
With regard to the establishment of doctors, and as decided at the meeting, "we came to the conclusion that financial incentives are not the only ones that matter." The government official justified that it is important, for example, to create the conditions for continuous improvement of the training quality of these doctors.
 
The Portuguese Medical Association conveyed its availability to monitor health professionals in their training path in the Region as well as to encourage the boards of health services to apply for training accreditation.