Latest news and stories about government policy in health in Lisboa, Portugal for expats and residents.
António José Seguro advocates for a long-term national healthcare pact to ensure stability for the NHS, urging a move away from short-term political cycles and excessive public debate.
The union considers it unacceptable to attempt to amend a structural law such as the INEM Organic Law via decree, without promoting a broad debate or discussion in Parliament.
Mayors are seeking meetings with political parties to address the negative impact of obstetric emergency service closures on local populations, particularly those in remote areas.
The new President took office in Belém, emphasizing the need for national stability while highlighting critical challenges including an ageing population, healthcare and housing deficits, and a slow judicial system.
The meeting took place on the day a slow-moving ambulance protest was scheduled in Lisbon, organized by the LPA, which was suspended on Sunday following commitments made by the Government.
The Government will include non-urgent patient transport companies in the scope of Decree-Law No. 199/2026, which establishes a package of extraordinary and temporary financial aid to mitigate rising fuel and AdBlue costs. This decision comes after private providers threatened to halt services or hold a slow-drive protest in Lisbon due to being excluded from previous support measures. The Ministry of Health acknowledged the essential role these companies play in ensuring patient access to healthcare amid rising operational costs. Industry representatives, including Álvaro Gil of the Portuguese Ambulance League (LPA), previously lamented the government's silence, noting that because transport prices are fixed at 2023 levels, companies cannot pass on cost increases to the National Health Service (SNS). In 2025, the SNS recorded over four million non-urgent patient journeys, with private firms handling half of these services, primarily for oncology treatments, dialysis, and physiotherapy.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA) has received government authorization for approximately 20.3 million euros to construct the surgical unit at the Armed Forces Hospital in Lumiar, spanning the years 2025 to 2029. The operation will be funded by the Military Infrastructure Law, as allocated in the EMGFA budget. The amount, to which is added...
Rules revoked in 2015 during the time of the so-called “geringonça” (left-wing coalition) had been introduced by the PSD/CDS-PP majority.
At a colloquium on abortion in Parliament, the former prime minister defended his government's measures regarding voluntary interruption of pregnancy: “It is a path that is not incompatible with the legal framework, but on the contrary, improves it substantially,” he maintained, pointing to the increase in the use of abortion services by foreign women.
Investigation into the case of the Luso-Brazilian twins reveals that Santos Ivo forwarded a request to the chairman of the board and the clinical director of Santa Maria Hospital.
For ordinary patients, there is a shortage of vacancies and doctors, but for the political elite, this is no longer the case. Also, José Luís Carneiro's move regarding the Budget and the useless manifestos signed by former government officials.
The work begins this Thursday at 07:30 with an outreach action involving users of the Olival Health Centre in Agualva-Cacém, in the municipality of Sintra.
Municipal groups from the Liberal Initiative (IL), Social Democratic Party (PSD), Chega, and PAN in the Sintra Municipal Assembly have presented a joint motion urging the City Council to intensify contacts with the Government regarding the potential transition of the Professor Doutor Fernando Fonseca Hospital and the Sintra Hospital to a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The parties argue that this management model could improve administrative flexibility and infrastructure investment, while the PS strongly criticises the move as a strategy to degrade the National Health Service and promote privatisation.
The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) holds parliamentary sessions focused on the rights of children and parents, emphasizing the importance of these policies for the future of Portugal.
A motion voted on this Wednesday at the municipal assembly proposes a public-private partnership for the Fernando Fonseca hospital and the new Sintra Hospital, which cost Sintra residents 64 million.
The position was defended by José Pedro Aguiar-Branco in the speech that opened the conference on the 20th anniversary of the Medically Assisted Procreation Law, in Parliament.
The event takes place at the Portugal Pavilion in Lisbon, between 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM.
Portuguese politics is trapped in a cycle of seasonal crises, with governments relying on short-term plans rather than structural reforms. The Iniciativa Liberal's iLab has launched the 'Future Forums' to address critical issues like healthcare, AI, and housing by consulting experts and field workers. The initiative begins with healthcare, a sector plagued by broken promises, long waiting lists, and a reliance on temporary fixes. The author criticizes the current government's failure to meet legal deadlines for surgeries and argues that the existing system, which forces citizens to pay twice for healthcare, is no longer truly universal. The goal is to move beyond bureaucratic planning and find practical solutions, regardless of whether they come from the public, private, or social sectors.
Former Socialist minister Adalberto Campos Fernandes, appointed coordinator of the Strategic Pact for Health by the President of the Republic, António José Seguro, will be the keynote speaker at the first edition of the Future Forums, an initiative organized by iLab, the study office of the Iniciativa Liberal party. The event takes place this Tuesday, September 29, at the Pavilhão de Portugal in Lisbon. Adalberto Campos Fernandes will speak on 'The Challenges of the Health System' at 3:15 PM, following the opening speech by Paulo Trezentos, vice-president of the Iniciativa Liberal and coordinator of iLab. This marks another intervention by a Seguro appointee at party events, following university professor Luís Aguiar-Conraria's participation in the liberals' parliamentary sessions in Porto. Also in this first edition of the Future Forums, dedicated to Health, former executive board member of the National Health Service, Francisco Goiana da Silva, and Miguel Sampaio Petiteiro, a doctor at Hospital de São João, will debate 'Quality care on time? How?' at 6:00 PM, moderated by MP Joana Cordeiro. After a presentation by Pedro Pita Barros, professor of Health Economics at Nova SBE, on 'Sustainability, productivity and AI in health systems' at 6:30 PM, there will be a debate moderated by parliamentary leader Mário Amorim Lopes, featuring Uphill Health founder Duarte Sequeira and Rui Guimarães, head of the Barcelos Local Health Unit and former chairman of the board of the Hospital de Gaia-Espinho. The president of the Iniciativa Liberal, Mariana Leitão, will close the first edition of the iLab Future Forums, which will be repeated in other cities to discuss topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Housing, and State, Tax, and Social Security reforms.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has charged four individuals with malfeasance, embezzlement, and abuse of power regarding the case of the Luso-Brazilian twins treated with the drug Zolgensma. The accused are former Secretary of State for Health António Lacerda Sales, Nuno Rebelo de Sousa (son of the President of the Republic), former Santa Maria Hospital clinical director Luís Pinheiro, and the twins' mother, Daniela Martins. The prosecution alleges that Lacerda Sales, Rebelo de Sousa, and Pinheiro abused their influence to secure medical appointments and treatment for the children, while the mother is charged with qualified fraud for allegedly misrepresenting her financial status to obtain state benefits. The case, which involves a drug costing two million euros per patient, has been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry and internal audits, which previously identified irregularities in the scheduling of the twins' appointments.
The President of the Republic reaffirmed today that he is “always available” to promote a long-term pact for health, in an intervention where he considered that there is too much noise and emotion in the media space.
At the Cascais International Health Forum, the President of the Republic demanded the appreciation of careers and the retention of professionals, and also warned about the effects of climate change on health.
The presentation session for the Parliamentary Sessions will take place at 10:00, featuring a speech by the parliamentary leader at the Assembly of the Republic.
Members of parliament are questioning whether the evaluation process regarding the hospital's location has been concluded.
Ana Paula Martins announced the concentration of emergency services in orthopaedics and stated that the country needs to train more doctors to address the shortage. The government wants to ensure billing for non-residents.
The Minister of Health says she will only leave her post when the Prime Minister decides. In an article for JN, she highlights the work done and rejects the idea that it is self-praise for the Government.
The Minister of Health denies that the opinion piece in JN is self-praise and promises to reorganise emergency services. Meanwhile, the Academic Federation of Porto accuses the State of inaction regarding student housing.
In yet another ‘weird example of governance’, the minister of Social Security (Labour and Solidarity) inaugurated a new €4.4 million care home in Mafra yesterday, admitting that it can’t start The post Minister inaugurates care home without authorisation to open appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, visited Mafra this Tuesday to inaugurate a care home, the second belonging to the local Santa Casa da Misericórdia. However, as reported by the Lusa agency, the facility does not yet have an agreement with the State and therefore cannot open. Although Palma Ramalho celebrated the event as a 'happy investment of public funds in a social project', she admitted that the agreement to accommodate 48 of the 60 potential residents is still missing. The provider of the Santa Casa, Joaquim Sardinha, confirmed the lack of an agreement and stated that the home cannot begin operations despite the inauguration. When questioned by Lusa about other institutions waiting months for similar issues, the minister denied that such long waits exist, describing the process as 'normal' and noting that the government has made efforts to reduce bureaucracy to accelerate these situations. This Mafra care home is one of the infrastructures supported by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), receiving 2.3 million euros out of a total investment of 4.4 million.
The minister considers the care home a “happy investment of public funds in a social project”. The provider of the Santa Casa de Mafra acknowledges that the agreement between the Social Security Institute and the State still needs to be signed.
