Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS) must recruit an additional 14,287 professionals—a 10% workforce increase—to eliminate its dependency on overtime, which reached nearly 20 million hours in 2022, according to Euractiv.
This finding comes from a study by the Centre for Planning and Evaluation of Public Policies (PlanApp), which analysed overtime hours worked by SNS staff and task workers providing medical services.
The report reveals overtime hours surged by 51.2% compared to 2018, averaging an annual increase of 1.7 million hours. Nurses, specialist doctors, operational assistants, and junior doctors accounted for almost 80% of these extra hours.
Three major hospital centres—Coimbra, Lisbon North, and Lisbon Central—were responsible for one-fifth of all overtime, highlighting regional strain. PlanApp warned of the SNS’s “progressive dependence on these mechanisms” for daily operations.
To address the crisis, PlanApp advocated a comprehensive strategy for “planning, training, allocating, and qualifying” health professionals, tailored to regional needs and specific professional groups.
The proposed recruitment of 14,287 staff would offset the 2022 overtime burden, equating to 10% of that year’s SNS workforce. The centre emphasised that sustainable solutions must move beyond stopgap measures to ensure systemic resilience.
