Portuguese public healthcare is useless
Moved to this 30k people town about a year ago. Registered in the Centro de Saúde with SS number, NIF, etc. I can’t book an appointment with a GP because there’s a shortage of them, so I’m in the queue, position 16k. More than half the town in the queue.
If I need to see a doctor, I can choose from the following options:
go to the Centro de Saúde to get a “senha” at 7am. The actual senha is handed out at 8:30, but since most people don’t have a GP, there’s a big queue every single day. The GP starts calling people in at around 11, so that’s a 4h wait, waking up at 6:30 am when you’re sick.
go to the Hospital. You’ll still wait for 2-4h and copay a minimum of €14, potentially more depending on what you need. If you need anything that’s not very generic, you’ll need to see a specialist, often requiring you to drive to Lisbon (2:30h each way).
go to a private clinic. Which would be fine if I wasn’t also paying OVER €1000 PER MONTH in Segurança Social.
There’s also no pediatricians here, you need to drive 30m each way if you need one. My son should’ve had his 2 year checkup, and they literally told me there are no pediatricians, that I should return in 5 or 6 months and ask again in case they already found one.
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Comments4
Red Handle
May 26, 2025
Wow cant believe they use this queue pattern when you are sick too it is so inefficient haha they use the same one at IMT in Lisbon for licences and I'm guessing in other areas too
The general flow is
Go super early in the morning to get a ticket (because always a huge queue)
Not early enough? Queue for a few hours until they run out of tickets and return to step 1 tomorrow
You got a ticket! Come back in the afternoon not at a specific time window but sit and wait 6 hours until your number is called
Throw in that it is only work days and work hours and it's a nightmare if you have a conventional job for a company abroad that doesn't understand you need 3 days ± 3 off to get your driving licence
Portugese companies its accepted and understood you need time out for these things but is so inefficient
Salmon Jaguar
May 26, 2025
Portugal has the worst health system I’ve ever seen.
5 years later, I’m still waiting for a “Centro de Saúde” GP.
They tried suggesting me to go 30km to get a GP, to get to this place I pass by 3 other GP offices. I nicely declined as there is a perfectly functional private hospital 5km from home.
All those Centro de Saúde are supposedly overcrowded, but checking the PowerBI dashboard they provide we can clearly see there are more deaths than birth, but I’m still waiting (they still cannot confirm my position in the queue, I think they faked my demand registry).
In this Centro de Saúde, there are FOUR assistants, one guard, one intern and one Director, for FIVE doctors. istg those assistants are the worst, ignorant, rude and racist. In which situation do you need FOUR dumb assistants to print “receitas” and give “senhas”? AI would do a much better job, and they could improve doctor salary conditions.
This post reminds me that I need to formally report again the abuses of those racist assistants.
The only positive thing they did in those last years was allowing private hospitals to give “receitas”. Next step: allow them to give “baixas”.
Beige Rain
May 26, 2025
My girlfriend and I are Portuguese who have moved to Lisbon. We’re still trying to get registered at a proper “Centro de Saúde.” We have given up on public health and gone private for most things.
Amaranth Reef
May 26, 2025
We have had the exact same issues.
When we finally were able to “see” a doctor, it was an online appointment in the hospital.
They basically just checked everything what other doctors have already pointed out. (My gf had a car accident and broke her leg —> kneecap is broken aswell)
“If you want to see a different doctor, you have to wait 6 months. But this will also be a online appointment INSIDE the clinic”.
Basically all we got from official hospitals were only appointments. We’ve been visiting private clinics since then.