Braga Hospital announced today that “in the next few days” the situation of nurses hired on a permanent basis to deal with the covid-19 pandemic should be regularized, in order to guarantee the permanence of those professionals.
In the meantime, those nurses continue to receive letters stating the expiry of their contracts.
In a letter to which Lusa today had access, dated 9 November, the Braga Hospital informs a nurse that its contract, concluded on 31 March, “will expire with effect from 30 November, this being the last working day “, unless the hospital” obtains express authorization to change the bond to term “.
The dismissal of those professionals had already been denounced, at the beginning of the month, by the Order and by the Union of Portuguese Nurses (SEP), who criticized the fact that the non-renewal of the contracts was happening “in the middle of a pandemic”.
At stake are, according to SEP, 86 nurses, who signed automatically renewable four-month contracts in March, now completing eight months of work.
The conversion of these contracts into permanent employment contracts will have to be authorized by order of the Ministry of Health, on a proposal from the hospital administration.
“There are 86 essential nurses, to face permanent needs, integrated and already with experience, whom the administration intends to ‘dismiss’, despite the legal framework in force allowing to hire,” says the union.
Contacted by Lusa, the hospital’s administration stresses that those nurses “remain in office”, with the Board of Directors “making every effort to convert those fixed-term contracts into permanent contracts and thus keep all nurses hired in functions ”.
“In the coming days, the situation should be regularized, in order to guarantee the permanence of these professionals at the Hospital de Braga”, he adds.
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