Lawmaker Coutinho asks gov’t about civil servant healthcare

The government should implement measures to uphold the healthcare rights of civil servants amid the intense environment of the past three years, lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho has said in a recent inquiry.

The lawmaker highlighted that in 2007, the government insisted on establishing the Civil Servant Health Check-up Centre, despite the then easy access to similar services at local health centers and private healthcare facilities accredited by the Health Bureau (SSM).

The centre was established to “prevent workplace health problems to improve the welfare and quality of life of civil servants,” according to the lawmaker.

However, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) stated in reply to a lawmaker’s inquiry that “during the past three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, staff from Civil Servant Health Check-up Centre were assigned to assist in the anti-Covid mission. Certain doctors have also retired.”

This partly explains the long queue for services. Coutinho cited the SAFP director as saying that “due to the limited availability for health check-ups [at the center], only civil servants who have not had a [government-run] check-up for two years will be accepted [for bookings].”

Coutinho also expressed his dissatisfaction with what he referred to as bureaucracy – from May 2009, all bookings were made with the SAFP instead of directly with the check-up center. This has led to delayed bookings, “seriously violating civil servants’ rights to early inspection, diagnosis and treatment,” the lawmaker said.

He also spoke of the recent passing of a special service police officer who died after running 1,800 meters as part of training.

The lawmaker emphasized that it should be a medical decision how frequently a person received medical checks, taking into account physical, clinical and laboratory observations and data, which is impossible for the SAFP to do.