A discussion filmed inside the Barreiros municipal hospital, in Zona da Mata Sul of Pernambuco, went viral on social media. The images show Mayor Carlos Artur Soares de Avelar, known as Carlinhos da Pedreira (PP), shouting at two doctors and expelling the professionals from the place during a surprise visit.
In the video, the manager says he caught the workers "sleeping" and "making out" in the accommodation while the emergency room was full. After the incident, the city hall announced the termination of the management contract for the Jailton Messias de Souza Albuquerque Hospital with the João Paulo 2º Association.
The Regional Council of Medicine (Cremepe) repudiated the "public exposure" of those on duty. The Pernambuco Doctors' Union (Simepe) said that the presence of the doctors, a man and a woman, in a rest environment does not authorize insinuations about their intimate life and that the images released do not show that they were "dating".
The case happened on Wednesday night (4). The "surprise inspection" was reportedly motivated by reports of a lack of doctors in the unit. In the images, the mayor appears walking through the hospital and starts shouting at the doctors after entering one of the rooms. The names of those on duty were not disclosed.
"What you are doing is absurd. My God! The emergency room is full of people and you are here sleeping, dating? It's absurd. I'm going to get it out now. Get out of here, from this hospital", shouted the mayor. Soon after, he calls professionals "bums".
In another video, published on the mayor's profile also on Thursday, Carlinhos da Pedreira stated, while participating in a podcast, that he had arrived from Recife around 10pm and decided to enter the hospital to check the unit.
"I found the reception completely full and asked: 'what is happening here at the hospital?'. [They said]: 'there are three doctors, but there is only one attending'. I started looking, going room by room, and found two doctors, in the same room, sleeping, and the population was no longer being treated. I said that I didn't admit that, that what they were doing was absurd, that it was medical negligence, I fired them on the spot", he said.
g1 sought out the João Paulo II Association to comment on the inspection carried out by the mayor and the termination of the contract, but did not receive a response until the last update of this report.
What the city hall says
In a note, the city of Barreiros informed that the Department of Health will directly resume the administrative, operational and care management of the hospital. According to municipal management, the measure is temporary and has already started the bidding process to hire a new organization to take over the administration of the unit.
The municipality also said that it decided to terminate management contract No. 026/2024 after monitoring and evaluating the contractual execution, "considering the principles of legality, administrative responsibility and public interest". Also according to management:
the city hall recognizes and thanks the João Paulo II Association for the services provided during the partnership period;
is adopting the necessary administrative measures to ensure an orderly transition;
considers the continuity of care, the quality of care and the well-being of users of the Unified Health System (SUS) to be priorities.
What Cremepe and Simepe say
In a note, Cremepe said that it repudiates the exposure of doctors on duty and that questions about medical assistance, shift schedules and the functioning of health services must be handled by competent institutional and legal means, "without constraint on the professionals involved".
"Inspection of public health services does not give any manager the right to expose doctors to public judgment, nor to compromise their honor, image and professional dignity. These rights must be respected regardless of the existence of complaints or questions about the professionals' performance", stated the entity in the text.
The Pernambuco Doctors Union (Simepe) stated that:
"vehemently repudiates the approach of the mayor of Barreiros", marked by public embarrassment and insinuations about the intimate lives of professionals;
supervising public services is the duty of management, but "humiliating workers, anticipating judgments and fueling their exposure to discredit are behaviors incompatible with the responsibility of the position";
the presence of a doctor in a rest environment does not authorize insinuations of an intimate nature and the images published do not demonstrate the insinuated behavior;
also repudiates any attempt at professional disqualification "based on gender stereotypes and judgment on women's private lives";
received reports that professionals were resting after intense care activities in the first 12 hours on duty while a third doctor continued to provide care;
rest during shifts must be organized with a guarantee of continuity of care and its use does not, in itself, constitute abandonment of the service.
