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SNS

Sword Health Threads AI Physiotherapy Into the SNS — Virgílio Bento's Unicórnio Carries the Free-to-Patient Programme at Hospital de Santa Maria on a 97% Wait-Time Cut and 45% State Saving for Back, Knee and Shoulder Pain

Sword Health Threads AI Physiotherapy Into the SNS — Virgílio Bento's Unicórnio Carries the Free-to-Patient Programme at Hospital de Santa Maria on a 97% Wait-Time Cut and 45% State Saving for Back, Knee and Shoulder Pain

The Serviço Nacional de Saúde (National Health Service, SNS) crossed a digital-health threshold on Thursday afternoon as Sword Health — the Porto-founded musculoskeletal-care unicórnio that Virgílio Bento and Márcio Colunas built in 2015 — locked in...
The Portugal Brief
Hospital building exterior — illustrative of the Portuguese National Health Service (SNS) infrastructure foreign residents register with.

Registering With the SNS in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the Número de Utente, the USF / UCSP Assignment, the SNS24 Portal Flow and the Centro de Saúde Document Stack for Foreign Residents

A practical guide to registering with the Serviço Nacional de Saúde in 2026 — getting your Número de Utente, joining a USF or UCSP family-doctor team, the SNS24 portal flow, the documents your Centro de Saúde will ask for, and how the system treats EU/EEA, CPLP and non-EU residents differently.
The Portugal Brief
Empty Portuguese hospital clinic reception with Piso 1 directional signage to Ascensor, Sanitário and Banco de Sangue

Decreto-Lei 115/2026 Tightens the Médico Tarefeiro Outsourcing Regime From 1 July — 60-Km Internato Catchment, Two-Year SNS Re-Entry Block and 48-Hour No-Show Penalty Frame the €250M Spend

Decreto-Lei n.º 115/2026 — published 16 June, in force 1 July — rebuilds the contracting regime for médicos tarefeiros around a 60-km internato catchment, a two-year SNS re-entry block, a 48-hour no-show penalty cut and a 31 December 2026 transitional deadline for live contracts.
The Portugal Brief
Nationwide SNS IT Outage Sends Hospitals and Health Centres Back to Paper Prescriptions — SPMS Blames Morning Power Failure as Pharmacies Lose Access to the Receituário Database and SIM Calls Patient Risk 'Intolerable'

Nationwide SNS IT Outage Sends Hospitals and Health Centres Back to Paper Prescriptions — SPMS Blames Morning Power Failure as Pharmacies Lose Access to the Receituário Database and SIM Calls Patient Risk 'Intolerable'

A national outage of the IT systems that underpin the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (National Health Service, SNS) started shortly before 09:00 on Friday 12 June 2026 and was still degrading hospitals, primary-care centres and pharmacies five hours...
The Portugal Brief
Ministério da Saúde Swaps Out the ULS Santa Maria Primary-Care Clinical Director on Conveniência de Serviço — Rita Molinar Replaces Eunice Carrapiço at the Country's Largest Unidade Local de Saúde With 120,000 Patients Sitting Without a Médico de Família

Ministério da Saúde Swaps Out the ULS Santa Maria Primary-Care Clinical Director on Conveniência de Serviço — Rita Molinar Replaces Eunice Carrapiço at the Country's Largest Unidade Local de Saúde With 120,000 Patients Sitting Without a Médico de Família

Ministério da Saúde dismisses Eunice Carrapiço and appoints Ana Rita Molinar as primary-care clinical director at ULS Santa Maria — the country's largest local health unit, with 120,000 residents without a médico de família. Mechanism: conveniência de serviço; CReSAP cleared the pick.
The Portugal Brief
Ministério da Saúde Signs 10 June Despacho Authorising Hospitals to Pay Tarefeiros (Locum Doctors) Up to 50% Above Career-Staff Hourly Rates — Retroactive to 1 January, 4,600 Hires Carried €250M of 2025 SNS Spend

Ministério da Saúde Signs 10 June Despacho Authorising Hospitals to Pay Tarefeiros (Locum Doctors) Up to 50% Above Career-Staff Hourly Rates — Retroactive to 1 January, 4,600 Hires Carried €250M of 2025 SNS Spend

The Ministério da Saúde (Ministry of Health) signed on Wednesday 10 June a despacho (executive order) authorising the National Health Service's Unidades Locais de Saúde (Local Health Units, ULS) to pay tarefeiros — independent doctors contracted on...
The Portugal Brief