Dr. Fernando Fonseca Hospital (Amadora-Sintra), Dona Estefânia Hospital, Algarve Hospital Centre, Tâmega e Sousa Hospital Centre and Vila Nova de Gaia-Espinho Hospital Centre. These five hospitals affiliated with the National Health Service have been identified for intervention by the EDP Foundation, within the remit of the Paediatric Support Programme taking place in 2015. This is an initiative by the EDP Foundation to contribute to the improvement of paediatric clinical intervention on a countrywide scale, improving efficiency of medical action and the well-being of users and their families.
Considering the vulnerability of the social fabric in paediatric public health, this rehabilitation of facilities and donation of technical equipment addresses the specific priorities identified by the Health Ministry and represent an investment of around 900 thousand euros.
This is the second programme of hospital equipment donation by the EDP Foundation. The first one happened in 2013, with the donation of oncology equipment, material and renovation work in four public hospitals – Portuguese Oncological Institute, in Lisbon, Garcia de Orta Hospital in Almada, Coimbra’s Hospital and University Centre and Santo António Hospital in Porto – which made up an investment of around one million euros.
For its intervention in the field of Social Inclusion through Health, the EDP Foundation was awarded, in April 2015, the Medal of Distinguished Services by the Health Ministry.
Prof. Dr. Fernando Fonseca Hospital (Amadora-Sintra):
To this hospital, he EDP Foundation donated a neonatal and paediatric ventilator and a multifunction ultrasound machine. These two pieces of equipment will enable a more effective treatment of the 55 thousand children who use the hospital’s emergency services each year.
The multifunction ultrasound machine, which will be placed in the intensive care unit, will enable to detect sooner some paediatric conditions without the need for children to go to the paediatric unit. The neonatal ventilator will also be allocated to the paediatric intensive care unit, to enable a quicker response to respiratory failure.
D. Estefânia Hospital:
To the D. Estefânia Hospital, the EDP Foundation and the Claude and Sofia Marion Foundation donated various types of equipment, including a Retcam, an operating microscope for ophthalmology, two gastroscopic cameras and a colonoscopy camera.
The D. Estefânia Hospital is the Paediatric Gastroenterology Unit which performs the largest number of endoscopy appointments and tests in the country (on average, it performs 5800 appointments per year and around 800 endoscopies). The endoscopes which were donated are suitable for use on very young children, reducing the discomfort caused by the test. They show innovative high-definition image quality which enables better detection of lesions, allowing for more effective treatment.
The equipment donated to the ophthalmology unit adds significant value to treating children with eye conditions, particularly the ones displaying congenital mutations.
The paediatric Retcam, which didn’t exist at this hospital, is essential for diagnosing, tracking and evaluating the therapeutic effects in multiple cases, namely retinopathy in premature babies, tumours, traumatic lesions and other conditions which might affect a baby’s eye.
Vila Nova de Gaia-Espinho Hospital Centre:
To this hospital, the EDP Foundation donated a set of equipment including an EEG video monitor, a neonatal ventilator, a vital sign monitor, a fetoscopic laser, an ultrasound machine with abdominal probe, a device for sleep monitoring and a CO2 transcutaneous monitor with a trolley.
Tâmega e Sousa Hospital Centre
Two neonatal incubators were donated to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which will replace equipment which was over 15 years old and which will provide better care to patients. This hospital centre covers around 500 thousand residents and has one of the biggest maternity wards in the country. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the Padre Américo Hospital, in Penafiel, cares for women who are over 28 weeks pregnant.
The EDP Foundation funded renovation work aimed at rehabilitating and humanising the paediatric ward in the Algarve Hospital Centre. It also donated a neonatal and paediatric ventilator to the Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Faro Hospital.
The structural intervention performed modernised the space in the paediatric inpatient unit, which was originally built in 1979. With an annual average of around one thousand inpatients admitted, the hospital now offers better conditions for babies, children and young people who need to be admitted at the Faro Hospital.
