Daily Life: Sns news in Portugal

Family doctors assigned to over 107,000 in Portugal

Army initiates disciplinary proceedings against Gandra d'Almeida following IGAS report

Letters to the editor

Reforming the NHS: between equity and the need for choice

The two maternity hospitals with the most births in Portugal are private and this has helped push up the caesarean rate

Fewer people are relying solely on the SNS and more are opting for private care

Tests: private sector urges Government to guarantee resources

DGS acknowledges difficulties in supplying flu vaccines to the private sector

The Directorate-General of Health (DGS) has acknowledged supply constraints for flu vaccines in the private market, clarifying that it does not intervene in the procurement or distribution process between pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. The National Association of Pharmacies (ANF) suggests that the private market quota may be lower than in previous years, a trend affecting several European countries due to vaccine composition updates. To mitigate these issues, the DGS has expanded its vaccination programme to include frontline healthcare workers in the private and social sectors. Meanwhile, the National Health Service (SNS) has secured over 2.6 million doses for its own campaign, which begins on 30 September and will now include children aged two to four.

72% of Portuguese people are concerned about healthcare waiting times

Waiting times for appointments and treatments are one of the main healthcare concerns for the Portuguese, with 72% of respondents highlighting this issue in the Médis Health Barometer, a brand of the Ageas Portugal Group. Half of the participants also state they have difficulty navigating the National Health Service (SNS). Diseases...

Pharmacies resolved 98% of nearly half a million minor cases

Only 2.2% of cases had to be referred for a medical consultation, thus relieving pressure on the National Health Service (SNS).

Pharmacies resolve nearly half a million minor cases and relieve pressure on the NHS

Researchers highlight seasonal vaccination and the response to minor health issues as the most significant services, emphasizing how proximity complements the NHS response, avoids travel, and reduces emissions.

Almost three in four users carry out preventive actions in the NHS

Of those who did so, 67.8% sought the NHS for routine clinical analyses, 61.8% for routine consultations/check-ups, and 50.6% for diagnostic exams for preventive control.

613 thousand euros per day on obesity medication

In the first three months of 2025 alone, more than half a million packs of these drugs were sold, totalling 130 million euros. The medications are not subsidised by the National Health Service (SNS).

Emergency department waiting times lower than in 2025

SNS (Portugal's National Health Service) hospitals recorded fewer episodes and fewer non-urgent cases, but there are units where waiting times have worsened.

8am. Two emergency departments closed on Saturday and Sunday

This is what the official SNS website indicates for this weekend. Also in this edition: an interview with Mário Centeno for Observador about the ECB, and coverage of the EU's agreement with Mercosur.

Catarina Martins says Montenegro knows the reality in the SNS and 'chooses to lie'

Presidential candidate Catarina Martins said today that the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, knows the reality of the problems in the National Health Service (SNS) but 'chooses to lie', insisting that the sector's deterioration is intentional.

Fewer and fewer people rely solely on the SNS and more are opting for private healthcare

Difficulties in accessing healthcare are reducing the likelihood that a person will rely exclusively on the National Health Service (SNS) and, once they opt for private care, those with greater means rarely return to the public system. According to data from the Nova School of Business survey on access to healthcare ...

Fewer and fewer people are relying solely on the NHS, with more opting for private healthcare

More than half of people resort to self-medication and most do not tell their doctor

António Filipe says deterioration of Portugal's National Health Service (SNS) 'is not perception, it's reality'

In Campo Maior, during a visit to an IPSS (private social solidarity institution), António Filipe criticised the prime minister's latest remarks, in which he said 'there is a perception of chaos in the SNS'.

Hiring limits in the National Health Service (SNS). Unions say they will worsen the healthcare crisis

Nurses' and diagnostic technicians' unions warn that limits on hiring staff will lead to a further deterioration of the National Health Service.

"It happens often": SNS executive plays down excess mortality persisting for a month

Álvaro Almeida says the SNS Executive Directorate monitors the data daily and that the essential task is to establish the causes of the excess mortality. More detailed analyses, he adds, will only be carried out once winter is over. For now, he urges caution.

Montenegro says there is a 'perception of chaos' in Portugal's National Health Service (SNS) but that this 'is not the reality'

The prime minister said on Monday there is a 'perception of chaos' in the National Health Service (SNS) but insisted that 'this is not reality', arguing that hospital waiting times 'are the best of the last five years'. Speaking in Porto at the inauguration of the SNS Executive Directorate's headquarters, Luís Montenegro recognised that ...

15-hour waiting times are isolated incidents, not the general reality

The chief executive of the National Health Service (SNS), Álvaro Almeida, spoke to journalists at the opening of the SNS executive directorate's headquarters in Porto on Monday.

President of the Order of Nurses warns: Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS) short of 14,000 nurses

The president of the Portuguese Order of Nurses says he is concerned about limits on hiring new staff, adding that Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS) is short by about 14,000 nurses.

Montenegro says the 'perception of chaos' in Portugal's National Health Service (SNS) 'is not the reality'

Speaking at the inauguration of the SNS Executive Directorate headquarters in Porto, the prime minister described 'a strange time' in which, in his view, there is an 'absolute disproportion' between the work of healthcare professionals in hospital units and the media coverage.

10:00 — SNS Executive Directorate headquarters inaugurated in Porto

The new headquarters is located on Rua Direito do Viso in Porto, and the ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health. Also, Braga and Viana do Castelo are under a yellow weather warning due to rain.

André Pestana calls for increased investment and resources for the SNS

André Pestana says he is the only candidate for the Presidency of the Republic concerned with halting the transfer of half the SNS budget to private providers.

More than 37,000 operations and appointments did not take place

Data from the SNS Executive Directorate show that the overwhelming majority of scheduled operations were postponed. Hospital administrators say resumption of the delayed activity may take months.

The problem with healthcare in Portugal is not 'a shortage of vehicles', but rather the 'lack of accessibility of ambulances that sit idle at hospitals'

Bioethics expert Rui Nunes emphasises that the sector's problem is not, 'and never was', a shortage of resources, but rather a 'systemic issue of management and organisation'. To resolve the crisis, it is necessary to 'retain doctors in the SNS (Portugal's National Health Service), because they exist in Portugal — they are just not in the places where they are needed'.