Filipe Santos Costa also criticises the Government's lack of proactivity in the health sector and its inability to resolve problems in light of recent controversies involving INEM and the deaths of three people in less than two days. Regarding Luís Montenegro's announcement about the purchase of 275 new vehicles for the emergency service, the CNN Portugal commentator points out that the ambulances “have been planned since 2023 and will arrive when they were due to arrive”, so “there is no decision here”.
"It's not worth asking Ana Paula Martins" because "we don't have a Health Minister"
Friday, 9 January 2026RSS
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Context & Explainers
The National Institute of Medical Emergency (Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica), known as INEM, coordinates Portugal’s pre-hospital emergency care, ambulance dispatch and medical response to 112 calls. It matters to expats because INEM is responsible for ambulance response times and on-scene care — incidents like the reported three-hour wait in Seixal can trigger investigations, affect public confidence and influence how quickly you can expect help in an emergency.
