Opened just over a month ago and a reference in performing legal abortions, the Women’s Hospital (formerly Pérola Byington) has been suspending these procedures or transferring patients to other units since last Thursday (13).
This week alone, at least nine patients had their pregnancy termination surgeries cancelled, rescheduled or transferred to the Vila Alpina State Hospital, the Sapopemba State Hospital or the Itapecerica da Serra General Hospital, not specialized in this type of procedure. .
One of the patients, a rape victim, is in her 18th week of pregnancy and has been waiting for a legal abortion since Sunday. This Wednesday, she was transferred to the unit in Sapopemba.
Superintendent of Seconci-SP (Social Service of Civil Construction of São Paulo), responsible for managing the hospital’s white coat — the part that involves health professionals —, Paulo Sergio Leme Quintaes said that the transfers took place with the aim of patient safety. According to him, the surgical center of the new hospital should only start performing elective surgeries next Monday (24).
According to health professionals who work at the hospital and who ask for anonymity, the problem is a lack of structure. On Saturday (15), there were no antiretroviral drugs, and patients who arrived after being raped were referred to Instituto Emílio Ribas.
This Wednesday (19) morning, immunoglobulin and hepatitis B vaccine were lacking. Without prophylaxis at the appropriate time, provided for in the Next Minute Law, patients are more subject to sexually transmitted diseases.
In the case of pregnant women, one of the major problems of delay in care is the change in the type of procedure necessary for the interruption of pregnancy. Up to 22 weeks, patients use abortifacient medication, undergo manual intrauterine aspiration and are discharged at the end of the day.
After this period, the woman needs to be hospitalized for the induction of labor, which can take days to happen. In addition to the physical impact, waiting causes great psychological suffering.
The picture is different from the one announced by the municipal and state administrations on the 11th. On the occasion, Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB), the acting governor, Carlão Pignatari (PSDB), and the Secretary of State for Health, Jean Gorinchteyn, were Hospital da Mulher to deliver the facilities for the Bem-me-Quer program, which provides integrated care for victims of sexual violence, and highlighted the quality of the service.
The managers announced expansion of the program, but the Sheet found that the hospital already had a shortage of employees and there were no hirings for multidisciplinary care for victims of abuse. Quintaes says that new employees will be hired according to the demand for the service.
The problem is not restricted to patients who are victims of sexual violence and legal abortions. Professor Sandra Gonçalves, 52, has been a patient at the hospital for nine years and was surprised this Tuesday (18) with the lack of the oral chemotherapy drug capecitabine, indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer.
At the age of 43, she was diagnosed with a breast tumor, then presented bone metastasis and a month ago she discovered an infiltration in the marrow, suggestive of leukemia.
On Tuesday (18), he went to the hospital for tests to check his immunity, a condition for receiving chemotherapy. “Everything was ok, I was released for treatment, but I didn’t have the medication, they didn’t deliver me.”
In order not to miss the beginning of the treatment protocol, which provides for six cycles (seven days taking pills at home and seven days off), you will use the medicine you received in a donation. “It’s a race against time, you can’t miss a day, you can’t miss anything. The donation will be enough for five days. If I don’t get it in the next few days, the treatment will be compromised.”
Oncological surgeries are also being postponed. The housewife Nominanda de Souza Mariá, 59, had the procedure to remove the tumor in her right breast scheduled for this Wednesday (19). As she did not receive the phone call informing the time of admission, she went to the hospital on Tuesday with her suitcase ready to stay in the unit and discovered that there would be no surgery.
“They said I could go home because the surgery had been canceled. So I asked if they had a forecast and they told me no.”
After looking for the social worker and the hospital ombudsman, she was instructed to call the next Monday (24) to obtain information. “When they told me, I went to a corner in the hospital and cried, cried. I cry because I’m desperate. I can’t wait to get rid of this disease, to be at peace. It’s a lack of respect”, he vents.
Last Thursday, Simesp (São Paulo Doctors Union) and SindSaúde (São Paulo State Public Health Workers Union) published a letter reporting problems at the hospital. In the document, the entities list the end of outpatient pharmacy and consultations with different specialties, which would force patients to seek medicines in other places and to enter the general service queue of the SUS to be attended by specialists such as pulmonologists.
The complaints also reached the Legislative Assembly and, this Wednesday, state deputy Erica Malunguinho (PSOL) said on her social media that she filed a request asking the hospital and the State Health Department for explanations for the delay in consultations and exams, delivery and application of medicines, lack of PPE (personal protective equipment) for employees and problems in the supply of food to hospitalized patients and their companions.
Asked about the problems mentioned, the superintendent of Seconci-SP stated that they occurred due to the difficulty of transferring several sectors in a single day and that it was not possible to segment this process because they are interconnected areas.
He stated that all supplies began to be transferred on the 13th, to avoid shortages at the old hospital, and that until this Tuesday they were still being recorded in stock and taken to the AME Dr. Geraldo Paulo Bourroul, on Rua Martins Fontes. The site will dispense medication to patients at Hospital da Mulher until the home delivery system is implemented.
“Any patient who should have received medication, including oral chemotherapeutics, but couldn’t, can go to the hospital and, with the prescription, go to the AME,” said Quintaes.
Regarding surgeries, he said that patients who had canceled procedures will be contacted in the next few days so that the operations can take place in up to two weeks.
The superintendent denied changes in consultations and in the medicines that will be made available. In addition, he stated that any problems in the supply of food have been normalized and that the teams are still undergoing training and adaptation.
“We are changing the tire while the car is in motion. I guarantee that in a month or less you will be able to visit us and see the excellence in service.”
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