Municipal governments will not be able to fire doctors who have already been hired.

Aline Leal Valcarenghi
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Brasilia - After allegations that municipalities were firing doctors to receive professionals from the Mais Médicos program, paid for by the federal government, the Ministry of Health clarified that the program's terms of agreement prohibit municipalities from firing contracted professionals. "Municipalities that violate this rule will be excluded from the program, with participating doctors being reassigned to other cities," the ministry stated in a note.

According to the Ministry of Health, the control is being carried out by the National Registry of Health Establishments (CNES) system, which prevents doctors participating in the program from being assigned to positions that were occupied before the municipality joined. Doctors already registered in primary care were prevented from registering for the program to work in the municipality where they already work, which prevents the migration of professionals to the Mais Médicos program within the same city.

The municipalities that have registered are required to maintain the number of doctors in primary care, without having the professionals from the Mais Médicos program. The ministry explains that doctors hired by the federal government can only be included to expand the capacity of care, forming new primary care teams or filling vacancies where there was a shortage of professionals.

The ministry explains that, while participating in the Mais Médicos program, municipalities may only remove doctors from primary care in exceptional situations justified to the national coordination of the Mais Médicos Program, such as, for example, proven non-compliance with working hours and/or other ethical or professional misconduct by the doctor.

Editing: Fabio Massalli