Line SNS 24 reached, in 2022, historic maximums of calls, as a result the expenditure contracted by the Ministry of Health (MS) accelerated. According to Newspaper this Tuesday, the amount spent on Line SNS 24 in the last year alone amounted to 60% of the total budget, that is, 22 million euros. Initially, the contract signed with the operator Altice provided for an expenditure of 36.7 million between 2021 and 2024. The amount is insufficient and the Government will open a new public tender soon.
“Taking into account the high demand for providing services to respond to needs during the covid-19 pandemic, the execution of the SNS24 contract was accelerated. For this reason, a new public tender for SNS24 will be launched shortly, contemplating the new services in the contract in execution”, said the Ministry of Health in response to the same newspaper.
The guardianship will have carried out the rescheduling of the financial charges relating to the acquisition of services for the operation of the Contact Center of the SNS (Line SNS24), at the end of December, through an ordinance. The diploma, signed by the Secretary of State for Health, Ricardo Mestre, authorized the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS) to spend around 13.2 million euros in 2021 and close to 22.1 million in 2022. the expected expenditure can go up to 1.16 million and, for 2024, it will be just 243 thousand euros.
In a first version, also amended, the amount authorized by the SPMS was 6.1 million euros in the first and last years of the contract. For the second and third years, the budget allowed charges of up to 12.2 million euros.
The tender for the exploitation of Line SNS 24 was won by the telecommunications operator Altice in 2020 and provided for a total expenditure of 36.7 million euros (10 million euros more than the previous contract) for a period of 36 months. Quoted by JNAltice’s official source said that the company “does not comment on a possible new tender”, but “reiterates its commitment and commitment to the execution of the contract in force and the quality of the service provided in SNS24”.
In 2022, the SNS 24 Line answered more than nine million calls, the highest number ever. January was the busiest month, with close to 3.3 million. According to the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS), in 2021 the SNS Line 24 had surpassed six million calls and, in 2020, four million.
It should be recalled that, in December, it was announced that the line would provide a medical response to elderly people residing in nursing homes or in long-term care units, a new service to avoid unnecessary trips to hospital emergencies.