The strike covers all healthcare professionals working in the Unified Health System (SNS) in the region. They are demanding, among other demands, the hiring of more staff to curb the burnout they say they are being subjected to.

According to healthcare professionals, exhaustion and worsening working conditions are only preventing greater consequences for patients and users due to their "high sense of responsibility and dedication" on a daily basis.

"Requests for dismissal and termination of employment contracts occur almost daily, and in many services, there is a decrease in the number of professionals per shift," the professionals lamented in a joint statement.

In turn, Tiago Botelho, president of the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS), told Lusa that he did not understand the reasons given for the strike, believing that its origins lie in union structures acting for political reasons.

The strike, scheduled from midnight to midnight, was called by the Southern Zone Doctors' Union (SMZS-FNAM), the Portuguese Nurses' Union (SEP), and the Union of Public Service Workers of the South and Autonomous Regions.