The number of people without a family doctor in Portugal exceeded 1.6 million in March. Nearly 1.1 million people live in the area of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley.
Monday advance Public, Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, Algarve and Alentejo are the most affected regions of the country. The main reason for the shortage of family doctors across the country is the lack of human resources. 2022 was the peak of the retirement age in the industry, which will continue this year and at least next.
Joao Rodrigues, who coordinated the working group appointed in 2021 to present proposals for reform of primary health care, explained Public that there are already “enough” family doctors, since “about 500 are trained a year”, but the problem is that “on average and in recent years, only 65% remain in the SNA and, a year later, another 15% still leave.”