The Order of Nurses has proposed that assigning family nurses to patients without a GP should be a national priority to better manage chronic disease and support an ageing population.

The diagnosis is clear: the NHS is not a failed system, it is an overloaded and emotionally divided system.

António Strecht argues that NHS reform should focus on sustained evolution and the adaptation of founding principles rather than a complete systemic rupture.

The lack of a National Commission for palliative care in Portugal has led to fragmented services, leaving teams reliant on local management and resulting in significant regional disparities in patient care.

APIFARMA president João Almeida Lopes warns that rising inflation and external economic pressures will inevitably lead to an increase in medicine prices.

Generic medicines provided over 666 million euros in savings for the State and families in 2025, marking a slight 0.6% decline from the previous year, as the pharmaceutical sector faces economic pressures from rising fuel costs and geopolitical instability.

The Portuguese Firefighters League is seeking urgent meetings with the President and Prime Minister to address financial instability, rising fuel costs, and the need to renegotiate emergency service agreements with the government.

The ACSS clarifies that new NHS registration rules, aimed at updating inactive user lists, will not result in a loss of healthcare access for patients.

The article advocates for equitable access to biologic treatments for patients with severe asthma, emphasizing the need to update Ordinance No. 261/2024/1 to ensure that these patients receive the same level of care as those with other chronic conditions. It frames this issue as an ethical and social imperative, highlighting the injustice faced by asthma patients in accessing necessary medical treatments.

The number of patients without an assigned family doctor has increased, reaching 1.6 million in January. This rise is attributed to a growing demand for healthcare services, with an additional 231,000 patients in the NHS over the past year.

The Portuguese Society of Cardiology has initiated a public petition advocating for state funding of a diabetes and obesity treatment that costs 250 euros per month. This move highlights the growing demand for accessible healthcare solutions in managing these chronic conditions.

Doctors are advocating for a new approach to monitoring pregnant women, emphasizing the need for a system that avoids overlap in care. This call to action follows a government initiative aimed at establishing a low-risk pregnancy monitoring project in regions where family doctor coverage is insufficient. The proposal seeks to enhance healthcare services for expectant mothers while ensuring that medical oversight is streamlined and effective.

In 2025, over two thousand professionals retired from the NHS, raising concerns about the potential impact on patient care and public safety. Reports indicate that this mass retirement could lead to significant challenges in healthcare delivery, prompting calls for urgent reforms to address staffing shortages and ensure continued quality of care.

Portugal is seeing a slowdown in influenza activity but excess mortality continues. According to the Portuguese Network of Laboratories for the Diagnosis of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, hospitals reported 73,292 respiratory infection cases and 14,243 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases since 29 September 2025. While incidence appears to be falling, the persistence of excess deaths suggests ongoing severity, possible impacts from co-circulating respiratory pathogens, delayed healthcare presentation or vulnerable populations, and underscores the need for continued surveillance and healthcare capacity planning.

Portuguese reporting indicates a sharp rise in monthly fees at some care homes — increases of roughly €500 — driven largely by a persistent labour shortage and higher operating costs. The hikes are prompting families to withdraw elderly relatives, intensifying pressure on informal care networks and raising equity and access concerns for vulnerable patients. Economically, the trend highlights how rising labour costs and constrained staffing can be passed directly to users in minimally regulated markets, with implications for social policy, funding models and workforce recruitment/retention. Separately, French coverage notes a demobilisation of farmers’ protests in Paris, underscoring a wider context of labour and sectoral tensions across services and primary production.

Despite repeated technical assessments, confirmed financial capacity and clear structural proposals, the SNS and INEM keep failing to deliver timely emergency responses. This analysis points to implementation gaps — weak governance, fragmented coordination between national and regional bodies, staffing shortages and poor resource allocation — rather than lack of solutions; the result is delayed care that harms patients (including expats) and undermines public wellbeing. Addressing the problem requires transparent accountability, an independent audit of operational bottlenecks, data-driven redistribution of resources and political commitment to implement already-defined reforms.

In 2025, 14.26% of people reported not seeking healthcare when needed, reflecting significant access barriers in Portugal. More than half of the poorest households cannot afford all prescribed medication, while over 50% of initial consultations in the National Health Service (SNS) occur outside the appropriate timeframe. These findings point to intersecting problems of affordability and timeliness that disproportionately affect low-income groups and signal the need for targeted policy responses to improve medication coverage, reduce waiting times and strengthen primary-care access.

Rising costs of medicines are a primary barrier to healthcare for the most disadvantaged, forcing some patients to cancel appointments and tests for lack of funds. This creates widening inequalities in health outcomes and places additional strain on services; addressing the problem requires policy responses such as targeted subsidies, improved coverage, price regulation and better access to affordable medicines.

A new report finds episodes of illness rising particularly among younger people in Portugal, contributing to an overall increase in the number of people falling ill while persistent barriers to accessing the SNS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde) remain high. The data suggest growing pressure on primary and urgent care, uneven access driven by geographic, capacity and administrative constraints, and possible underlying drivers such as changing infection patterns, mental‑health needs and disruptions to routine care. The report calls for targeted policy responses to expand capacity, improve outreach to younger cohorts and reduce practical barriers to care, and for more granular analysis to identify regional and demographic causes.

A Nova SBE report, 'Self‑medication in Portugal: Practices, Determinants and Behavioural Profiles', finds that 51.85% of respondents have self‑medicated at some point. The practice is especially common among younger people, those with higher education and people without a family doctor, and is being used for mental health issues as well as physical complaints. Most people do not inform their doctor about self‑medication, prompting experts to warn of risks for mental health and for patients with chronic conditions. The study highlights gaps in access to primary care and the need for better patient education and reporting practices.

Emergency departments and hospitals are experiencing significant difficulty admitting patients presenting with respiratory problems, creating bottlenecks in patient flow and raising concerns about care delays and safety. The situation appears driven by high demand for acute respiratory care combined with constrained inpatient capacity, staffing pressures and infection-control requirements that limit bed availability. This strain on emergency and hospital services risks longer waits, compromised care coordination and wider impacts on public health and system resilience unless capacity or operational responses are implemented.

Rising influenza activity is increasing admissions to intensive care and placing growing pressure on emergency departments. Health authorities warn the epidemic has not yet peaked, and the country is experiencing higher-than-expected mortality for the season, raising concerns about healthcare capacity and the potential need for surge planning and resource prioritisation.

Beja Hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology emergency service will be closed overnight due to a shortage of doctors, operating from 20:00 on Saturday until 08:00 on Sunday and again from 20:00 on Sunday until 08:00 on Monday. The closures are attributed to an inability to complete the rota, raising concerns about patient access to urgent maternity and gynaecological care and potential pressure on neighbouring services. An accompanying opinion notes systemic failings in emergency logistics — exemplified by ambulances held up by missing stretchers — as symptomatic of wider incompetence in healthcare operations.

The Portuguese Firefighters' League (LBP) has established a weekend task force of four additional ambulances to bolster pre-hospital emergency response and ease pressure on hospitals. The emergency vehicles — drawn from the Ajuda, Cabo Ruivo, Camarate and Cascais brigades — will be based at the LBP headquarters, while a commander will be on permanent duty at CAASO (Centre for Operational Monitoring and Support) to coordinate operations. The deployment is a targeted, short-term capacity boost intended to improve response times during busy periods and provide centralised operational oversight.

PSD MP Miguel Guimarães welcomed the announcement to purchase 245 ambulances, saying it will allow INEM to increase its response capacity across multiple locations, notably Greater Lisbon and Setúbal. Analytically, the investment should improve coverage and potentially reduce response times in high-demand areas, but its effectiveness will depend on deployment strategy, crew availability and integration with existing emergency services. Close monitoring of allocation and operational metrics will be required to ensure the intended gains in emergency healthcare delivery are realised.

The prime minister announced what was described as “the largest investment in ambulances in over a decade” — 275 new vehicles — less than 36 hours after three citizens were reported to have died while waiting for care. Critics have called the timing “strange” and labelled the move demagoguery, arguing it risks masking systemic negligence in emergency services rather than addressing deeper policy and resourcing failures in healthcare and public safety. The episode has intensified calls for transparent planning, independent oversight and comprehensive reforms to emergency medical services rather than one-off equipment purchases.

Carlos Enes of CNN Portugal examines recurring, serious failings in Portugal’s emergency response system, arguing that political and union attacks on INEM distract from patient safety. He urges giving INEM operational authority, requiring ULS hospitals to free trolleys and beds, and restoring clinical judgement as the primary guide for urgent care, while calling for systemic changes to protect public health.