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Health

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

The lit Urgencia entrance of Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon at night, with yellow INEM ambulances parked outside and staff standing by the revolving door

Portugal's Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technicians Will Stop Work on 9 October, and the Quarrel Is Over Points They Say the New Pay Table Takes Away

The STSS has called a national strike and a rally outside the Health Ministry, with a two-day stoppage pencilled in for late November. Its members refused to sign the government's agreement in principle.

The Portugal Brief 18 Sep 2026

A Portuguese public health centre in Rio Maior, Santarem district, a low white and blue-trimmed building with a pitched glazed section and cars parked outside

The Health Regulator Has 368 Beauty Clinics Queued for Inspection and Has Managed 223 Since 2023

Two establishments were shut down in the first half of this year, both over people performing medical procedures they are not qualified to perform. Those files go to the prosecutor.

The Portugal Brief 18 Sep 2026

The tiled facade of Farmacia Almeida in Lisbon, its blue and yellow azulejos framing four arched shopfronts, with a bicycle parked at the kerb and customers at the open door.

Portugal's Free Flu Shot Now Covers Every Child From Six Months to Four, and the Private Supply Is the Part Under Strain

Norma 006/2026 opens the campaign on 30 September and adds two, three and four year olds to the free list. The SNS bought 2.3 million standard doses; pharmacists say the separate private allocation may be smaller than in past years.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

The lit Urgencia emergency entrance of Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon at night, with yellow INEM ambulances parked outside and staff in scrubs by the doors

Portugal Logged 3,658 Patient Safety Incidents Last Year, and Nine in Ten Came From Staff Rather Than Patients

The DGS released the Notifica figures for World Patient Safety Day. Falls and pressure ulcers lead both lists, the total has sat near 3,500 a year since 2022, and the system is anonymous and non-punitive by design: it is not the complaints route.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

The entrance and car park of the Centro de Saude in Soure, a low cream-coloured Portuguese health centre building

Organ Donation in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to Presumed Consent, the RENNDA Non-Donor Register, and the Four Working Days Before an Objection Counts

Portuguese law counts every resident as a potential donor unless they have registered otherwise, and that includes foreign residents. Here is how the RENNDA works, how to opt out in whole or in part, and what the separate rules are for donating while alive.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

The lit Urgencia entrance of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon at night, with INEM ambulances parked outside and staff standing by the revolving door

The Pay Order That Decides Whether Portugal's Emergency Rooms Stay Staffed Has Still Not Been Published, and the Locums Are Threatening October

A portaria setting hourly rates for medicos tarefeiros was due with the rest of the SNS package and has not appeared. Their association says a cut brings a massive stoppage, and hospitals have until 30 September to sign contracts nobody can price.

The Portugal Brief 16 Sep 2026

The Casa de Santa Cruz care home in Cartaxo, a long ochre and white building converted from the old Misericordia hospital, seen from the pavement under a clear blue sky

A 4.4 Million Euro Care Home in Mafra Was Inaugurated on Tuesday and Cannot Admit a Single Resident

Sixty beds, thirty-eight jobs and a hundred and fifty people waiting. What is missing is the Social Security agreement that would fund 48 of the places, and without it the doors stay shut.

The Portugal Brief 16 Sep 2026

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