Waiting times at emergency services in Portugal remain above recommended levels, maintaining a crisis situation that affects hospitals across the country. The situation is particularly severe at Hospital Amadora-Sintra, where a patient classified as urgent came to wait eight hours for the first medical assessment.
A union in the sector warned that this crisis is not seasonal, meaning it is not limited to periods of higher demand such as winter. The union emphasized that the main structural problem is the staffing shortage in medical and nursing teams throughout the entire year, not just during specific times.
This shortage of professionals in emergency services has been accumulating over time, creating constant pressure on services that cannot be alleviated with temporary measures alone. Professionals warn that without a structural resolution to the human resources problem, the situation in emergency services will remain critical regardless of the time of year.
