Santarém's Maternity Unit Shuts for Four Days as Summer Rosters Strain the Health Service

The Gynaecology/Obstetrics emergency unit (urgência de Ginecologia/Obstetrícia) of the Hospital de Santarém will close for at least four days from Sunday, 19 July 2026, because there are not enough doctors to cover the rosters. The closure is the latest in a run of summer diversions across Portugal's obstetric emergency network, where holiday absences leave hospitals unable to fill their schedules.

Santarém is not an isolated case. Managers across several regions have signalled that they cannot safely staff round-the-clock obstetric cover through the peak holiday weeks, forcing expectant mothers to be redirected to neighbouring hospitals or admitted only after being referred by the national emergency service.

Which Units Are Affected and When

Several maternity and obstetric emergency services face closures or restrictions over the coming weeks:

• Hospital de Santarém: the Gynaecology/Obstetrics emergency closes for at least four days from 19 July 2026, owing to a shortage of doctors to cover the rosters.
• Hospital de Santo André (Leiria): during the first two weeks of August, its obstetric emergency will admit only pregnant women referred by the INEM (National Institute of Medical Emergency), again because of roster limitations.
• Hospital de Portalegre and Hospital das Caldas da Rainha: closures are also foreseen for their Gynaecology/Obstetrics emergencies.
• Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (Loures): the regional obstetric emergency has recently been conditioned, at times receiving only INEM-referred pregnant women, because of a lack of capacity in the delivery block (bloco de partos). Constraints have also affected Almada.

A Recurring Summer Strain

These disruptions follow a familiar seasonal pattern. When doctors take their holidays over July and August, rosters that are already stretched cannot be filled, and hospitals respond by closing an emergency unit outright or restricting it to INEM-referred cases. The SNS (National Health Service) has faced repeated staffing shortfalls, and obstetric emergencies — which cannot be left partly manned — are among the first services to be diverted.

The pressure is national in scale. Portugal's emergency network comprises about 168 hospital emergency units, and the Health Minister has said it is "very difficult" to safely maintain that network of 168 emergencies given the human resources available. The summer closures have sharpened a longer-running debate over whether the country has enough specialists to keep every unit open, a shortfall that echoes the wider difficulty in staffing primary care, where a recent recruitment round filled just 273 of 711 family-doctor posts.

What This Means for Residents

• Call ahead before travelling: if you are pregnant and expecting to attend an obstetric emergency during these weeks, confirm first that your local unit is open, as your usual hospital may be diverting cases elsewhere.
• Use the SNS 24 line for guidance: the SNS 24 health line on 808 24 24 24 can advise on where to go and whether your nearest maternity emergency is currently receiving patients.
• In an emergency, call 112: for urgent or life-threatening situations dial the European emergency number 112, and the INEM will arrange transport and referral to a hospital able to admit you.
• Keep your documents ready: have your maternity record, health identification and any referral paperwork to hand, in case you are directed to a hospital other than your usual one.

With the busiest holiday weeks still ahead, further short-term closures and diversions are likely before staffing eases in September. Residents planning around a due date should treat the published rosters as provisional and keep checking the status of their local unit, so that a last-minute diversion does not come as a surprise when it matters most.