Overview
- Emergency demand has surged this week, with the Álvaro Cunqueiro emergency service handling an unusually high number of patients that reached 788 in 24 hours when adults, children and obstetric cases are combined.
- Surgical activity is being repeatedly suspended because there are not enough nurses to staff theatres and wards, with 18 cancellations reported last week and several more this week.
- Hospitals are keeping dozens of beds closed for lack of staff: 85 beds at Álvaro Cunqueiro and about 60 closed at Meixoeiro plus another 60 that are effectively inoperative year-round.
- The immediate cause is exhausted temporary hiring lists or 'bolsas' that leave managers unable to meet legal nurse-to-bed ratios, so administrators open fewer beds rather than hire permanent staff.
- The system-wide pressure is amplified by a long-term shift of patients to the public complex from private Povisa, which added tens of thousands of consultations and thousands of extra procedures to Cunqueiro and Meixoeiro over recent years.