According to the Sustainable Health Index, developed by NOVA Information Management School (NOVA-IMS), the perception of the quality of services and waiting times in health units continues to be the main weak point (dropped to 64.5 points) from the SNS.
Another weak point, although improving, was the ease of access to healthcare.
Health professionals and the quality of information provided by these professionals are the main strengths of the SNS from the users' perspective.
The index also indicates that the priority areas for action in the SNS should be ease of access to care and waiting times.
According to the index, the majority of Portuguese people (74.1%) consider their current health status to be “good” or “very good”, a higher percentage than that recorded in 2022.
Almost half (49%) say that their health status negatively affects their quality of life and 41% consider that it makes it difficult to carry out daily tasks (personal and/or professional). One in three say that their health condition makes mobility difficult and 38% that it causes anxiety or depression/pain or discomfort.
Overall, on a scale of 0 to 100, respondents rate their current health status with a score of 75.3. If the contribution from the SNS were removed from this value, the indicator would only be 65.9 points.
I've lived in 6 EU countries. In the first 5, healthcare was generally fine. Here in Portugal, the NHS has unfortunately become a complete joke. Still no family doctor after 3 years. Told to stand in a queue at 8 a.m. to hope to see a doctor. This is third-world healthcare. Immigrants need to know that if they want to be sure to get healthcare, they need to budget with private insurance and/or consultations (and avoid dishonest insurers like AdvanceCare that use every trick in the book to avoid paying, effectively breaching the contract).
By Thomas Frost from Porto on 07 Jun 2024, 11:05