Portugal’s Health Service After Flu Surge: Faster Care Amid Growing Backlogs

A six-week wave of gripe has filled hospital corridors and reignited old doubts about Portugal’s public health system, but the man in charge insists the headlines exaggerate. While opposition parties describe an overloaded network, the national health executive argues that recent reforms have already started to cut waiting times, add staff and modernise equipment. The truth, as usual, sits somewhere in the middle—and that matters for every family who still relies on the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS) for day-to-day care.

Snapshot: Where the SNS Stands Now

• Pressured winter urgencies but shorter triage queues compared with last year

• Additional 1 902 frontline professionals hired since January 2025, according to the Ministry

• €1.98 B reinforced funding pumped in during 2025 to settle old hospital debts

• Cuts worth €1.9 B pencilled in for the 2026 draft budget, raising fresh alarms

• 12.5 % drop in median A&E waiting time (56 → 49 minutes) nationally

• 37 000 planned operations postponed amid the flu surge and holiday contingency plans

• Over 2 000 “social admissions” still block beds every night, costing €288 M a year

• New obstetrics high-performance centres launch next month on an experimental basis

Executive’s Defence: “No Chaos, Just Progress”

Álvaro Almeida, the SNS executive director, spent Monday in Penafiel dismissing talk of a breakdown. He acknowledged “pockets of serious strain”, but said the network is “responding better every month.” Backing him publicly, Health Minister Ana Paula Martins stressed that the ministry “will not abandon the ward” and that perseverance, rather than sudden overhauls, is the chosen cure. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro added political muscle, repeating that attracting and retaining talent is the reform’s centrepiece, not a quick fix.

Opposition spokespeople, however, seize on ward closures, diverted ambulances and staff overtime to argue that the situation already meets any reasonable definition of “chaos.” The director replies with three talking points:

More professionals on payroll than at any point in a decade;

Shorter triage waits despite record emergency attendances;

Digital triage via SNS24 redirecting almost 3 000 potential walk-ins daily.

Hard Numbers: Performance Indicators in 2025-26

Health-care statistics rarely make front-page news, yet they often decide whether complaints feel justified or political. Recent data show:

• The average stay in A&E fell to 267 minutes last year, shaving 17 minutes off 2024 levels.• Hospital bed occupancy breached 100 % in several urban units over Christmas, a spike linked to “internamentos sociais”—patients medically discharged but awaiting social-care placement.• The government’s own dashboard confirms over 37 000 surgeries and consultations skipped during flu peak weeks, a backlog administrators warn could take “many months” to clear.• A Council resolution in early January sets a 2026 goal of bringing specialist-consultation waits back inside legally mandated TMRG thresholds by outsourcing to the social sector when needed.• Meanwhile, the planned volume of surgeries for 2025 was revised down to 778 000, accepting that earlier ambitions were unrealistic.

Voices from the Frontline

Medical bodies strike a more sceptical tone than the executive. The Federação Nacional dos Médicos (Fnam) has already asked the Provedor de Justiça to review a new regional-emergency decree it labels “harmful” to working conditions. Fnam’s wish-list in current talks includes faster career progression, protected parental leave, and caps on compulsory overtime.

The Sindicato Independente dos Médicos (SIM) calls regional emergency hubs “the right idea built on the wrong formula,” questioning whether voluntary rotas can be guaranteed. Hospital managers, grouped in the Associação Portuguesa de Administradores Hospitalares (APAH), have one main plea: grant local units real budget autonomy so they can prioritise based on regional demand rather than uniform national rules.

The Money Question

Few disputes inflame quicker than budgets. In 2025 the Treasury injected €1.978 B in extraordinary transfers to wipe out old invoices, yet the year is still projected to close with a €1.352 B deficit. At the same time, the 2026 draft presented to parliament trims overall SNS funding by €1.917 B. Officials argue the gap will be bridged by “efficiency gains” and tighter procurement, but patient groups warn that further belt-tightening risks pushing longer waiting lists into 2027.

A newly announced Fraud-Combat Commission claims it can claw back €800 M by chasing duplicate billing and improper prescriptions, though the panel has yet to receive full staffing.

Technology and Structural Reform

Beyond the budget sheets, planners pin hopes on modernisation. The five-year RISNextG digital backbone, worth €24 M, aims to connect 1 900 facilities on a single high-speed network, easing record exchanges between GPs and hospitals. Another €117 M in PRR money will install 68 pieces of heavy diagnostic kit—MRI scanners, linear accelerators, even the SNS’s first surgical robots in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo.

Parallel to public investment, the cabinet has authorised preparations for public-private partnerships in Braga, Loures, Vila Franca de Xira, Amadora-Sintra and Garcia de Orta, rekindling an approach that divided opinion a decade ago.

Why It Matters for Residents

For people who live in Portugal, the debate is not abstract. It decides whether an elderly parent can access home-care support instead of occupying a hospital bed, whether a child with asthma sees a specialist inside the legal deadline, and whether the emergency line picks up at the first ring.

The executive may be right that the SNS is statistically “better than last year,” yet unions are equally correct to insist that continued staff shortages and ward bottlenecks can erase those gains overnight. With flu still circulating and budget negotiations about to start, the next few weeks will show whether political promises translate into shorter queues—or another round of finger-pointing.

Key insights to remember

No consensus on the word “chaos”; data show mixed progress.

Waiting-time indicators improved but backlog of surgeries widened.

Nearly €2 B extra paid out in 2025, yet 2026 plans involve sizable cuts.

Digital triage and heavy-equipment upgrades are under way, but benefits will take time.

Labour talks with doctors remain the biggest wild card for the coming year.