In the aftermath of the dismissal of the management team of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS) forwarded the final audit report on Santa Casa Global to the Court of Auditors (TdC), due to the internationalization of social games, it was announced on Wednesday.

According to a person close to the case, it was Minister Maria do Rosário Ramalho who made the decision to send the audit result to the TdC, adding that the report had already been sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office during the government of Socialist Minister Ana Mendes Godinho.

The consulting firm BDO has also submitted the final audit report to the SCML, according to the Lusa news agency.

At the beginning of the year, the institution sent the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Court of Auditors the report on the external audit carried out on Santa Casa Global with data collected up to 31 January 2024.

Ana Jorge says she received the news in a "rude, arrogant and slanderous manner". Montenegro rejects "purge"

Meanwhile, the former SCML ombudsperson, Ana Jorge, assured that her dismissal was communicated to her in a "rude, arrogant and slanderous manner", and that she was taken by surprise.

Despite "11 very hard months" that she faced "towards financial sustainability" and, "more importantly, in the social commitment we made to thousands of people", the former Minister of Health stressed that it was an "honour" to be at the head of the SCML, if only for the work "developed in such a short time and for the solid restructuring plan" that the now dismissed board intended to implement.

"I have always thought, and today more than ever, that in politics, as in life, not everything is worth it. But, in due time and in the proper place, I will tell my truth, which is the truth of someone who served the SCML with the same dedication and spirit of mission with which I carried out the various public and civic functions throughout my life", reads the communication from Ana Jorge, quoted by SIC Notícias.

The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, stressed that "a relationship between the guardianship and the management of Santa Casa that is not currently ensured" is necessary, appealing for the dismissal to be seen as "normal".

"I believe that it is necessary to give the country signs of normality in the functioning of our democracy. There is no political purge whatsoever. […] The Government assumes the replacement of the board to continue our program", he said, pointing out that it is necessary to "plan for the coming years" and "recover a situation that is becoming absolutely unsustainable".

Does the Government want more "tame" people? PSD asks PS to "keep its feet on the ground"

In turn, the parliamentary leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Hugo Soares, severely criticized the reaction of the Socialist Party (PS) to the dismissal of the administration of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa for "having shown itself incapable of facing the institution's serious financial and operational problems", and appealed to the collective "to keep its feet on the ground and assume responsibility" for its actions over the past eight years of government.

It should be recalled that the PS defended on Tuesday that the dismissal of the ombudsperson of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa has the sole objective of placing in office "people who are more politically aligned and tame" by the PSD Government.

"The Government is creating a set of cases that have the sole purpose of replacing people who are more politically aligned, more tame for the PSD Government", said the vice-president of the PS Parliamentary Group, Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro, in a statement to journalists at the headquarters of the socialists in Porto.

For the Socialist deputy, "this is what is at stake in these and other attitudes, as was the case with the executive board of the National Health Service (SNS)".

Meanwhile, the PS and the Liberal Initiative (IL) have requested the urgent parliamentary hearing of Ana Jorge and Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, to explain the Government's decision to dismiss the administration of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

The parliamentary leaders of the benches that made up the Democratic Alliance (AD) - PSD and CDS - have already announced that they will make these parties' initiatives viable.

What triggered the case?

It should be noted that the Government accused, on Monday, the dismissed ombudsperson of the SCML and the members of the Board of "seriously negligent actions" that affected the institution's management, thus justifying the dismissal.

According to the dispatch published in the Official Gazette (DR) which, in the case of Ana Jorge, is signed by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Ramalho, the entire current management team of the SCML has ended its functions.

Ana Jorge took office on 2 May 2023, chosen by the previous Socialist Government of António Costa, and inherited an institution with serious financial difficulties, after years of pandemic and a process of internationalization of social games, carried out by the administration of ombudsperson Edmundo Martinho, which may have caused losses in the order of 50 million euros.

Read Also: Ministry of Labour sends audit on Santa Casa Global to the TdC (Portuguese version)