The central warehouse of the Ministry of Health, in Guarulhos, in the state of São Paulo, has lost BRL 2.2 billion in medicines and other medical supplies since 2019. The finding is from an inspection carried out this month by the Financial Inspection and Control Commission Chamber of Deputies.
According to the report produced by the commission, the damage was caused by the disposal of products. Also according to the document, during the commission’s visit, several other inputs about to expire were found, which will cause further damage to the public coffers.
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“There are 75 million units that will expire in the next three months”, said federal deputy Daniel Soranz (PSD/RJ), who signed the report.
The document points out that “the lack of organization and articulation between the purchasing processes, logistics and the needs of the population is evident”.
The report also proposed 14 measures to avoid further losses in the warehouse, managed by a private company on behalf of the Ministry of Health, including the immediate opening of a public portal with all inputs in stock (with quantities and expiration dates) and the promotion of a campaign to receive units with an expiration date in the next eight months.
It was also proposed the direct distribution of these inputs to municipalities with more than two million inhabitants; prohibition of any type of purchase without prior presentation of a distribution plan; the restructuring of logistics, preventing medicines and supplies from taking the same route between production, storage and distribution to avoid expenses with transport and taxes; and evaluate the opening of an investigation to determine possible fraud in the R$ 2.2 billion lost in inputs.
unused beds
The commission also inspected the six federal hospitals and three national institutes located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, all administered by the Ministry of Health. For example, 1,045 unused beds were found.
“The situation presented by the federal hospitals is very serious. There are more than a thousand deactivated beds, which could be serving the population”, said Soranz.
Part of these unused beds are what the deputy calls “ghost beds”, that is, they appear in the public hospital census as “occupied” but, in fact, are empty. The census is a tool that shows in real time how many beds are available so that managers can know the availability of beds for hospitalization in the health units of the municipality.
At Hospital da Lagoa, in Rio, for example, the administration informed the public hospital census that, on the day of the inspection, there were 195 beds occupied. However, the commission found that only 103 of them were actually with patients, while 92 were empty and available.
A similar situation, although in smaller numbers, was found in the General de Bonsucesso, Cardoso Fontes and State Servers hospitals, in addition to the National Cancer Institute (Inca).
Entire sectors were also found closed in some hospitals, such as the emergency room at the Bonsucesso General Hospital, the pediatric emergency room in Cardoso Fontes, three operating rooms in Ipanema and the emergency room and burn center in Andaraí.
What does the Ministry say?
By means of a note, the Department of Hospital Management of the Ministry of Health reported that it has been working to regularize the situation. “Since the precarious situation found in the six federal hospitals, important actions have already been carried out such as the replenishment of supplies and medicines, reopening of beds and resumption of the works processes”, with the reopening of more than 300 beds of the 593 that were blocked.
The note also informs that, on April 14, a working group was created to “refine the diagnosis” of each health unit and propose the restructuring plan for them.
“The Ministry of Health reinforces its commitment to reopening more beds and reducing surgical queues in federal hospitals, providing quality care for the population of Rio de Janeiro”, he pointed out.
The ministry also said that it is analyzing the case of Hospital da Lagoa. But he did not mention what measures he will take regarding the problem of the loss of billions of inputs in the central warehouse.
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