Healthcare system, hospitals, and medical services in Portugal.
STTS has called a 48-hour national health-sector strike for Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 May 2026, with a Hospital Santa Maria demonstration on the second day. The arbitration tribunal has imposed Sunday-equivalent minimum services. SEP nurses already have 12 May queued.
The Serviços Partilhados do Ministério da Saúde (SPMS) marked the third anniversary of the SNS 24 illness self-declaration service on Thursday with a release confirming that the digital baixa now runs at
How dental care works in Portugal: who gets free SNS dental vouchers, how to check a private dentist, urgent care, and the tax deduction on your bills.
From 28 April, 58 community pharmacies in Amadora, Sintra, Odivelas and Loures offer free, anonymous walk-in rapid HIV and hepatitis B+C tests. The 'Saiba de Si' programme targets a 53.9% late-diagnosis rate that climbs to 65% among over-50s and 67.6% in heterosexual male transmission.
Portugal has lost €100 million of PRR money earmarked for Todos os Santos — the country's biggest public works. A commission appointed 6 April must renegotiate with Mota-Engil and explain a cost that grew from €334M (2017) to €800M (2025).
Six of Santa Maria's 31 emergency team leaders stepped down after the hospital removed João Gouveia as director of the urgência central with eight months of his mandate still to run. The hospital says the move is 'routine'; the chiefs left their posts anyway.
OECD Health at a Glance 2025 gives Portugal a split verdict: longer lives and lower preventable mortality than the OECD average, but fewer nurses, less prevention spend, worse acute-care survival, and 58 per cent satisfaction with care.
