Crutches, phone-queues and “ghost” no-shows: public health care (SNS) is completely broken

PortugalHealth care (SNS)Jun 2, 2025

I tore my meniscus on 20 Apr 2025. ER doctors at Hospital São Bernardo (Setúbal) said it was urgent and promised a fast referral to Hospital Ortopédico do Outão (orthopedic hospital).

What happened

Date	What I did	What the system did
20 Apr	ER visit, told “you’ll be called soon”	Nothing visible on my SNS 24 portal, no e-mail, no letter, no SMS, nothing.
20 Apr – 15 May	Refreshed portal daily, phoned Outão & SNS 24 for hours	Silence
15 May, 10:00	30 min call to Outão	“First consult? 5-6 months.” they told.
15 May, 10:30	Insisted	Staff finds a record saying I missed an appointment that was never scheduled (at least never disclosed to me)
15 May, 11:00	45 min on SNS 24 (4 transfers, re-explaining each time)	“We can’t book urgent cases. Go to your health centre.” The person literally told me they could not even transfer the call to other person. After telling the whole story 4 times.

Consequences

30 days without weight-bearing, atrophy getting worse.
€350 spent on private MRI, labs and consultation.
€9000 spent on private surgery.

What the law says vs. reality

TMRG (Portaria 153/2017): consultation ≤ 15 days, surgery ≤ 60 days for priority P2.
30 days with zero appointments or communication, a bogus “no-show” on my file and an official answer of “nothing we can do”.

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