On 3 July, parliament voted on the proposals for the creation of the Order of Physiotherapists, which had already been approved in the special parliamentary session.
Last week, the parliamentary Labour Committee gave special approval to the creation of the two new professional bodies, and today the proposals will be put to a final vote in the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic.
The creation of the Order of Physiotherapists received favourable votes from the PS and CDS, with the other parties abstaining.
On the PSD side, MP Joana Barata Lopes told Lusa last week that the party abstained because it believes that professional organisations should be created in exceptional cases, when the state is unable to ensure their regulation, namely due to conflicts of interest. However, she believes that professionals should not be the ones to "pay" for the government's failure to regulate.
At the end of 2017, the National Council of Professional Orders had already expressed its opposition to the creation of the Order of Physiotherapists and also to the idea, which did not go ahead, of creating an Order of Health Technicians.
The Council, which brings together more than 300,000 regulated professionals, considered at the time that the orders have their own legislation and are only justified in "exceptional circumstances, which must be explained".
In Portugal there are currently 16 professional organisations, eight of which are in the health sector.
Source: Public