consulta aberta
Published 4 November 2026, 03:07
consulta aberta (same-day appointment at a health centre; also called consulta do dia and consulta de urgência)
A short appointment, usually ten to fifteen minutes, with whichever doctor is free that day, without booking and without needing your own family doctor. It is for something acute but not life-threatening: pain, a temperature, cystitis, a wound. The usual procedure is to arrive at opening time, take a ticket at reception and get a slot for that day.
Where you come across it. You are ill and need a doctor today, but there is no appointment available with your own doctor or you have no doctor at all.
There is a limited number of tickets per day, and they run out in the first half hour. Each centre has its own procedure, and it changes: in some places the same-day clinic still works as before, while in others you can now only be booked in through the SNS 24 line. Ask at your own reception.
Official website: sns24.gov.pt/servico/marcacao-de-consultas