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Healthcare system, public health, medical news, and wellness updates from Portugal.

The long grey facade of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon seen across its forecourt, framed by a flowering pink oleander in the foreground

Portugal's First Hundred Specialist Pharmacists Qualify in 2027. Their Regulator Wants the SNS Posts Opened Now.

The Residência Farmacêutica started in 2023 and reaches its first finish line next year, in clinical analyses, hospital pharmacy and human genetics. More than 500 pharmacists are behind them in the programme.

The Portugal Brief 22 Sep 2026

The awning and green cross of the Farmácia Duarte Ferreira on a cobbled corner in Abrantes

Medicine Co-payment (Comparticipação) in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Four Escalões, the Reference-Price Trap, the Low-Income Pensioner Regime and the Thirty-Five Disease Schemes

Why the same prescription costs two euros one month and thirty the next. The four co-payment tiers, how the reference price quietly shifts the bill onto you, the 12,180 euro pensioner threshold, and the letter on your prescription that is worth fifteen percentage points.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The floodlit main building of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon seen from its forecourt at night

Epidermolysis Bullosa Enters Portugal's Special Medicine Rules for the First Time, and the Dressings Become Free at SNS Counters in December

A four-annex ordinance in Monday's gazette supplement covers ichthyosis and epidermolysis bullosa, puts painkillers and skin medicines at 90 percent in community pharmacies, and makes silicone dressings, saline and barrier creams free at SNS units.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The main entrance of a Portuguese public hospital under a curved canopy, with a green sign reading Entrada and Consultas Externas, Análises and Visitas

Told to Ask His Insurer for His Own Medical File, He Waited Fourteen Months. Portugal's Health Regulator Has Now Ruled

Two deliberations published this month say the same thing in different words: the record belongs to the patient, it is free, and no provider may route the decision through an insurer or an employer.

The Portugal Brief 20 Sep 2026

The main facade of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon seen from the gardens, framed by pink oleander blossom, with flags flying above the entrance

The Day Portugal's Junior Doctors Queued in Five Halls to Claim a Specialty Is Over, and a Ranked List Decides October's Places Instead

ACSS has set out how the 2026 Internato Médico vacancy choice will run online. Candidates rank the posts they will accept and can revise the list until 23:59 the night before their lot is processed at 10:00. The ranking rule is unchanged, and speed of submission counts for nothing.

The Portugal Brief 20 Sep 2026

The stone gateposts and main entrance of the Hospital Dona Estefânia in Lisbon, with a nurses' union banner reading Fortalecer o SNS hung on the boundary wall

Four Anaesthetists Leave Lisbon's Children's Hospital in October, a Fortnight After Its Emergency Chiefs Quit Their Posts

The health unit says three of the four were already absent and the fourth worked part time, and that it has hired ten people since June. The doctors' body puts the national shortfall at 600 anaesthetists.

The Portugal Brief 19 Sep 2026

The Urgência entrance of the Hospital de São José in Lisbon, with ambulances queued beneath the red sign and the Castelo de São Jorge on the hill behind

Half the Foreign Visitors Treated in Portugal's Emergency Rooms Carry No Cover, and the Health Inspectorate Wants the Fee Taken at the Door

IGAS has asked two Local Health Units to consider charging non-residents on entry to the emergency department rather than at discharge, and to add a compulsory check-out point. Its own survey found 92,189 non-residents treated in nine months of 2024, 49.3 percent with no cover at all.

The Portugal Brief 19 Sep 2026

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