The Assistant Secretary of State and Health, AntĂłnio Lacerda Sales, was present at the opening of the SNS Desk 24 in Bicos, in the Parish of Vale de Santiago, county of Odemira, held on 2 August.
It was the first space for access and provision of digital and telehealth services to citizens to be opened throughout the Alentejo.
The moment was accompanied by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Local Health Unit of Litoral Alentejano (ULSLA), Catarina Filipe, by the Mayor of Odemira Hélder Guerreiro, and by the President of the Parish Council of Vale de Santiago, Inês Hilário.
To the Assistant Secretary of State and Health, António Lacerda Sales, Citizens’ access to the SNS is “a great challenge and a great learning experience in recent years”, considering the SNS Desk 24 “an improved access and open door for our citizens, particularly for those who live in places further away from the centers, to have access to consultations, to health centers and hospital services. It is guaranteed to improve access for our citizens and this is very important.”
To Catarina Filipe, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ULSLA, this service “is an asset”, because “There is a range of services that are available today. A large part of the population is not literate in the new technologies and has a service, with the fundamental collaboration of the Parish Council, that will bring users closer to health care.”
For the Mayor of Odemira, Helder Warrior, “We are very honored that the first SNS Branch 24 from Alentejo to be in Bicos, a location quite far from the health center that now has a very important proximity service”. For the mayor, this service “needs to be extended, have more capacity and have more services for people and we are now going to work to make it a reality in other Parishes”. He highlighted and thanked “the support of the Parish Councils, in this case the Valley of Santiago, what it means to prepare and train to provide support to users, who need help accessing these services.” ULSLA has other SNS Branches under development 24 for the municipality of Odemira, partnerships are being developed with other Parish Councils.
The SNS Counters 24 aim to provide support to those who do not have access to technological equipment or the internet or who do not have the necessary conditions or skills to remotely access the digital services of the National Health Service. Services such as teleconsultations are available, mark/unmark/remark queries, consult test results and treatment guides, renew/refer to chronic medication, assess and record symptoms of COVID-19, schedule COVID-19 vaccination, request issuance of COVID certificates, make calls to the SNS 24 (808 24 24 24), request exemption from user fees due to economic insufficiency and alteration of user data.
The SNS Desk 24 de Bicos is located next to the Sociocultural Center, where the first user to benefit from the service was José Lanza, of 68 year old, resident in the village, who carried out a teleconsultation with his family doctor and thus avoided a trip to the village of Colos.
