"Ghost Doctors" in Brazilian Health Service Are Under Investigation

07/30/2015 - 10h35

Doctors arrive at work, clock in and then leave. They see patients in private clinics when they actually should be in public hospitals. They record more hours worked than there are hours in a week or are witnessed abroad on the same day they have clocked in.

In at least nine states as well as Brasília, the Federal District, institutions like the Auditing Court, the Federal Police and Public Prosecutors have identified and investigated cases of "ghost doctors" who show up very little to work, if at all, and in many cases with governmental support.

Most accusations cite fraud in clock-in registrations, which worsen the waiting times of patients seeking care in the Public Health Service, called SUS.

Only in June 2014, an audit by the Auditing Court at Brasília has identified 25,735 undue shortages of health workers, an average of 15 per member of staff - from differing work schedules to doctors working at a place other than where they clocked in.

The system used for absence management is flawed: in almost half of the branches, it is not electronic.

Brazil's Federal Police has identified a doctor who was traveling to Europe on the same day he "clocked in". Another recorded 169 hours worked in a week –something impossible even if he worked 24 hours a day.

Supervision carried out by the TCU (Federal Audit Court) in 116 hospitals in the country in 2013 also pointed out fraud in other states –including Goiás, Pará, Pernambuco and Mato Grosso.

The president of the National Federation of Physicians, Otto Baptista said that irregularities are isolated, but end up being put forward by managers to avoid losing professionals dissatisfied with their wages.

The management of hospitals and health managers deny that there is collusion with fraud and say that they seek to improve methods for absence management.

Translated by CRISTIANE COSTA LIMA

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