A large proportion of the posts remained vacant. The union says many doctors will not wait 'indefinitely' for the competitions and therefore move to the private sector or take on contract work.
Recruitment competition for new family doctors was a 'failure'
Thursday, 22 January 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
Primary care (Cuidados de Saúde Primários) is the first level of Portugal's health system — the network of health centers (centros de saúde) and family health units (Unidades de Saúde Familiar, USF) that provide general practice consultations, nursing care, vaccinations, chronic disease management, preventive screening, and referrals to specialist care.
Every resident registered with the SNS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde) is entitled to a family doctor (médico de família), though in practice over a million people lack an assigned GP due to doctor shortages. The strength of primary care directly affects hospital pressure — when health centers are understaffed or closed, patients turn to hospital emergency departments, increasing waiting times.
Portugal has been expanding USF coverage and recruiting more GPs, but access remains uneven, particularly in rural inland areas and some Lisbon suburbs.
