The ‘no place’ of Social Organizations and managers’ search for efficiency in SUS

Abstract

The objective of this text is to identify and analyze how Social Organizations (SO) in the management of services of the Unified Health System (SUS) are presented in the municipalities of Santa Catarina, through the study of the Municipal Health Plans in the 2018-2021 quadrennium and the laws that establish the Municipal Incentive Program to Social Organizations. This is an exploratory research through bibliographic and documentary study, which included 23 municipalities distributed among the eight macro-regions of Santa Catarina. The first part presents the theoretical-political and technical trends in relation to SUS and management models, problematizing the arguments of neoliberal rhetoric and the hiding of the private nature of SO. In the second part, the results of the documentary research show that Municipal Health Plans make SO invisible, while in 10 municipalities there are laws that establish the Social Organizations Program. Plans generally use a generic language that does not really allow us to interpret whether they are in accordance with the fundamentals of SUS. Only one municipality makes a frank defense of SUS public management. Insufficient funding is the problem pointed out by most as the main management challenge and the technical-managerial narrative of efficiency is a reference for describing problems and priorities.