Staff Shortage Closes ERs Across Portugal During Holiday Weekend

**Heat, holiday travel and a nationwide shortage of specialists have collided this weekend, forcing the National Health Service to pull down the shutters on a string of emergency rooms—six on Saturday and eight on Sunday—most of them in the fields of Ginecologia e Obstetrícia and Pediatria. For foreigners who rely on public care when the unexpected happens, the closures are a stark reminder that Portugal’s urgências can be vulnerable at the very moment expats are most likely to be on the road.

Summer squeeze hits Portuguese ERs

Beach traffic and soaring temperatures traditionally stretch the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS), yet this weekend’s wave of closures feels different. Hospital managers from Aveiro to Almada say they had no choice after failing to fill rosters with the minimum number of médicos especialistas. Many doctors have already exceeded the 150 hours of overtime allowed by law and are refusing extra shifts. The knock-on effect is a patchwork system where some facilities remain fully open, others accept only cases routed through the Centro de Orientação de Doentes Urgentes (CODU) do INEM, and a handful simply lock their doors.

Where the shutters came down

Saturday’s six closures hit the maternity wings of Barreiro, Vila Franca de Xira, Caldas da Rainha, Aveiro and Leiria, while the paediatric ER in Vila Franca de Xira also went dark. By Sunday, the list expanded to Garcia de Orta hospital in Almada and the obstetric unit in Santarém, pushing the tally to eight. Large urban centres such as Lisboa did not escape unscathed: Hospital São Francisco Xavier handled births only if pre-approved by CODU, and Amadora-Sintra restricted its children’s service to referrals from INEM or SNS 24. Even the flagship Hospital de Santa Maria disclosed that its orthopaedic team would be absent for 19 days this month, forcing trauma patients to wait longer or travel farther.

The staffing puzzle

Portugal trains roughly 1 500 new physicians each year, yet the SNS still struggles to retain enough specialists. Low base salaries, intense workloads and a continuing exodus to the private sector or to Northern Europe leave public hospitals thinly staffed. Summer magnifies the problem: annual leave coincides with tourist inflow, while obstetrics and paediatrics are hit hardest because these departments rely on tightly regulated team sizes for safety. According to union sources, 48 % fewer ER shutdowns were recorded in early 2025 compared with 2024, but July and August have reversed that trend.

How authorities plan to fix the cracks

Health officials insist the closures are “temporary management measures” under the Plano para a Resposta Sazonal em Saúde – módulo verão 2025. The blueprint obliges every Unidade Local de Saúde to submit a three-tier contingency plan, beefs up data reporting, and encourages private clinics to lend staff. Daily dashboards of bed occupancy and ambulance wait times now land on the desk of the Direção Executiva do SNS, which can redeploy teams at short notice. The ministry also struck side agreements with obstetricians and anaesthetists, lowering the mandatory headcount per shift in order to keep more doors open.

What patients can do right now

If an emergency arises, authorities urge residents and visitors to dial 808 24 24 24 before heading to the hospital. The SNS 24 nurse line can redirect callers to the nearest open facility, dispatch INEM if needed, or book a same-day primary-care slot. Expats with private insurance should double-check whether their provider covers public ER fees, which hover around €30 for non-urgent visits unless a vítima de acidente or grávida is involved. Keep in mind that Portuguese ambulances will typically transport you to the closest public hospital; asking to be driven to a private clinic can trigger extra paperwork and delays.

Reading the road ahead

Forecasts suggest the current heatwave will persist for at least another week, coinciding with the peak of holiday departures. In a best-case scenario the contingency plan will prevent fresh closures, yet unions warn that additional walkouts are possible if no long-term staffing deal is reached. For now, the safest strategy is to stay informed: monitor your local ULS website, save the INEM number (112) in your phone, and remember that even in a country celebrated for its public health system, temporary gaps can emerge when demand outweighs supply. Foreign residents who know the system’s pressure points stand a better chance of navigating Portugal’s sunny, but stretched, summer healthcare landscape.