Only 28.2% of foreign doctors practicing in Portugal have a contractual relationship with the National Health Service (SNS). Of the 4503 physicians from other countries registered with the Ordem dos Médicos, only 1270 were employed by the public service at the end of 2022.
According to chairman Carlos Cortes, one in every ten doctors who entered Portugal in the last five years was linked to the SNS. The lack of attractiveness of the public service is pointed out by the person in charge, who asked for improvements in working conditions, as reported by the Newspaper.
Data advanced by the newspaper reveal, however, that the number of foreign doctors working in the SNS has increased from year to year. In 2018 it was, 1192, having had a increase of more than 6.5% in the last five years.
In the same period, revealed data provided to the newspaper by the Ministry of Health and by the Order of Doctors, the number of foreign doctors enrolled in that entity increased by almost 11%.
Carlos Cortes underlined that the 4503 foreign doctors enrolled in the order, in a universe of 61,235, represent just over 7% of the total. Of these, only 28.% are on the SNS.
The official considers that the solution to the health crisis in Portugal does not lie in hiring more foreign doctors, but in improving working conditions, in order to make the sector more attractive.
The specialty of general and family medicine is the one that concentrates the largest number of foreign doctors (32.4%), followed by internal medicine (15%), general surgery (4.7%), anesthesiology (4. 6%) and immunohemotherapy (3%). Those working in the SNS are mostly in primary care.
You Spanish continue to be the dominant nationality, representing more than a third of all those registered in the order, followed by Brazilians.
ZAP // 
