The Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, announced this Tuesday that approximately 850 nurses are required to address staffing shortages in local health units (ULS), with nearly two-thirds of these positions needed in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region. The government official also mentioned that expanding professionals' working hours will be part of the solution, in addition to hiring new staff.
The Order of Nurses had requested the minister's urgent intervention on Monday regarding authorization for local health units to proceed with hiring, warning that the country is missing out on over three thousand new professionals. The issue involves organizational development plans for 2026, which outline the human resources that local health units and oncology hospitals can have, but these have not yet been approved, even though three thousand nurses who are finishing their courses are already available.
Ana Paula Martins emphasized that these three thousand nurses have other attractive options beyond the National Health Service, referring to the private and social sectors. The minister expressed hope that the needs can be met in the second half of the year, and that the hiring capacity of local health units will not fall far short of the approximately 850 nurses needed.
The government official acknowledged that between 2024 and 2025, the number of nurses working in the NHS increased by more than 1,500, but admitted that this year local health units have faced difficulties in hiring due to the need to adjust the overall reference framework of the NHS, which depends on care-related and economic-financial indicators. This framework for 2026, which provides for accommodating hiring in the second half of the year, is awaiting publication.
