Secretary of Health provides clarifications to ALMT regarding delays in payments and suspension of health services

The Secretary of State for Health, Gilberto Figueiredo, provided clarifications to the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso (ALMT), this Monday (13), regarding the delay in payment to companies providing services in units linked to the State Department of Health (SES), which led to the suspension of part of the services. The appearance at the House of Laws responded to the call made by state deputy Lúdio Cabral (PT) and took place during a meeting at the College of Leaders.

Among the units that suspended part of the services are the Regional Hospitals of Colíder, Sinop, Sorriso, Rondonópolis and Cáceres, in addition to the Santa Casa State Hospital. Present at the meeting, the councilor of Sorriso, Leandro Daminani (PSDB), demanded the resumption of pediatric care, neurosurgery, vascular surgery and hemodialysis in the ICU of the municipality’s Regional Hospital, which have been suspended for around 60 days.

Gilberto Figueiredo stated that the State Department of Health found inconsistencies in the payment processes sent by companies providing medical and hospital services and requested that corrections be made. According to him, the documents forwarded with the necessary corrections have already been paid or are in the process of being paid.

“The State Government does not have a cash program to make payments. The problem is bureaucracy”, she assured.

The secretary explained that contracted companies must present a detailed monthly billing report on the contracted object and its items and payment is made only after the invoice/invoice is duly attested by the management responsible for supervising the contract, with the corresponding amounts being retained. to services whose execution is not in accordance with what was agreed in the contract.

“As we improve the control systems based on recommendations from bodies such as the State Comptroller General (CGE), the Court of Auditors (TCE) and the Brazilian SUS Management Support Agency, we are making demands so that the objects are fully complied with. This creates administrative discomfort and some companies do not agree with the fact that what is established in the contract is a pedagogical exercise to improve all processes. Therefore, some suppliers who did not comply with these contractual clauses had a certain delay in receiving payments, but we made more than 600 payments in the last two months and we are practically reaching full regularity with payments for the month of September from almost all companies” , he declared.

In addition to possible questions about the information provided, the secretary pointed out the delay in presenting the monthly billing report by companies as one of the main factors that result in the delay in making payment by the government. According to him, less than 5% of contracted companies meet the deadline for presenting the document.

New hires – Gilberto Figueiredo also considered that “some services end up having a lapse in functioning” when a company interrupts the contract and the government needs to hire a new one.

“Hiring a new service provider is done on an emergency basis or through an auction, which takes time, but we are seeking to resolve all existing problems at this time. We have just placed 11 tenders for over 20 specialist hospital services,” he said.

Public tender – Representative Lúdio Cabral criticized the management model adopted by the state and defended the holding of public competitions in Health. According to the parliamentarian, there are currently 7,781 vacant positions in the State Department of Health.

“For the state to adopt emergency contracting and compensation payments as a rule for practically five years is not correct and this is the root of the problems identified today in the functioning of hospitals. The private provider, hired on an emergency basis or hired on an indemnity basis, does not have a formal link established for a certain period of time with that service and the procedures for you to evaluate the fulfillment of the provider’s tasks are more fragile, so the state needs to change this management model of the hospitals under his responsibility so that we do not experience a real collapse”, he highlighted.

Secretary Gilberto Figueiredo informed that the government has already authorized a public competition to fill 406 reserve registration vacancies in various areas. However, in Lúdio Cabral’s assessment, the measure will be insufficient to meet demand.

“Unfortunately, it is a political decision by the state governor to follow this health management model. I am absolutely against this logic, because it is this model that generated situations that led to police operations in state health. If we hold a public competition and fill the vacancies with competitive professionals, this professional, over time, ensures quality, continuity and a much lower cost for serving the population, like the Júlio Müller Hospital, he argued.

Specialties – Representative Janaina Riva (MDB) highlighted the importance of dialogue with the government to understand any bottlenecks that may be hindering the continuity of care.

“Our concern is only what is happening in relation to specialties. Is it just this issue of delay? Is it a lack of cash flow from companies or is there also on our part, as a state, this issue of bureaucracy that is tying up and making companies consider it uninteresting to take on these specialties here? I think the main objective is this: trying to unravel this scenario, which is complex”, he pointed out.