"The service has been operating normally since 8am on 2 January, after having had 48 hours of non-covered stops due to the lack of doctors," Luís Matias, chairman of the local health unit of the Alentejo Coastal Local Health Unit (ULSLA) told Lusa.

The service was resumed at HLA, located in the municipality of Santiago do Cacém, Setúbal district, "with a doctor of general and family medicine who is doing urgency," said the official.

Child care in the hospital emergency room was closed between 8am on Tuesday, 31 December, and 8am Thursday, 2 January, due to the lack of doctors, and during this period only the basic emergency room of Alcácer do Sal (Setúbal) and Odemira, in the district of Beja, operated with “total care” of users.

Despite the interruption in child care, according to Luís Matias, on Tuesday “18 paediatric patients were assisted” and on Wednesday “two children were still assisted” in the HLA's general emergency room.

Considering that “the worst time is over,” the hospital administrator said, however, that “he cannot foresee a sudden absence,” even though “scales are filled with service providers”.

The Alentejo Coastal Hospital serves a population of 100,000 inhabitants of the municipalities of Alcácer do Sal, Grândola, Santiago do Cacém, Sines and Odemira.