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SNS

The Hospital Garcia de Orta in Almada, a tall pink and white block above its car park, with a blue Portuguese sign pointing the way to the ambulance entrance.

The Health Inspectorate Has Opened a Formal Case Into the Almada Hospital That Closed Its Termination Clinic, the Fifth Abortion-Access Process Since 2023

IGAS opened process 104/2026-INS on 27 August, after a submission about how care is organised for women seeking a termination in Almada and Seixal. The hospital shut its information email the day it closed the clinic, and did not answer questions about where patients should go.

The Portugal Brief 07 Sep 2026

The stone gate pillars and brass plate of Hospital Dona Estefania in Lisbon, with a nurses' union banner reading Fortalecer o SNS, Valorizar os Enfermeiros on the railings

All Nine Team Chiefs at Lisbon's Children's Emergency Department Resigned on Thursday Night, and the Reason Is Anaesthetists

The letter reached ULS Sao Jose at 21:53 and covers only their coordination roles. The group has 83 anaesthetists for seven hospitals, three emergency departments and all its surgery. The same day, official figures showed closure days falling sharply.

The Portugal Brief 04 Sep 2026

A weathered enamel plaque on a cracked wall reading Centro de Saude Mental Infantil e Juvenil de Lisboa, Unidade da Primeira Infancia, under the Portuguese coat of arms

Half a Year to a First Psychologist Appointment in the SNS, With 1,200 Professionals for 11.5 Million People

Sofia Ramalho of the Ordem dos Psicologos Portugueses says the wait for a first appointment runs to six months and the gaps between sessions to months more. A promised reinforcement of 300 in primary care is, she says, clearly insufficient.

The Portugal Brief 04 Sep 2026

A yellow and blue INEM ambulance with Portuguese plates parked on a paved forecourt, the 112 number and Instituto Nacional de Emergencia Medica lettering on its side

Nurses Will Take the SNS 24 Calls Routed Into Portugal's 112 Dispatch Centres, and INEM Will Not Say When It Starts

Pre-hospital emergency technicians have done this triage for years and are not leaving the CODU. The Order of Nurses said the change would begin on 1 September; two days later INEM would only say it starts shortly.

The Portugal Brief 03 Sep 2026

The grey concrete facade of the Hospital Beatriz Angelo in Loures with the hospital name in large lettering across the wall and a covered entrance walkway at street level

Lisbon and the Tagus Valley Gained 49,000 People Without a Family Doctor in a Year, and the North and Centre Cancelled It Out

The national total barely moved: 1,672,130 people without an assigned family doctor in June, against 1,669,681 a year earlier. Underneath it the south added 66,786 and the north and centre removed 64,337. Loures and Odivelas is the worst unit in the country.

The Portugal Brief 28 Aug 2026

The baroque stone gateway of the Hospital de São José in Lisbon, with statues and a coat of arms above the arch, a hospital signboard beside it and a trade union banner on the pavement.

A Lisbon Doctors' Union Tells Its Members to File Liability Disclaimers as Anaesthesiology Cover Thins Across the São José Group

The Sindicato dos Médicos da Zona Sul says anaesthesiology teams at the ULS São José have been cut below Ordem dos Médicos levels, that Santa Marta's emergency is down to one anaesthetist, and that Dona Estefânia has had to reorganise paediatric surgical emergencies.

The Portugal Brief 27 Aug 2026

Portugal's Rare-Disease Registry Adds 155 Conditions in 2025, Reaching 594 Codified Diseases

Portugal's Rare-Disease Registry Adds 155 Conditions in 2025, Reaching 594 Codified Diseases

The DGS added 155 rare diseases to its national coding system in 2025 — the biggest annual jump yet — bringing the registry to 594 recognised conditions and widening the safety net for patients.

The Portugal Brief 05 Aug 2026

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