IGAS
Published 8 November 2026, 22:51
IGAS — Inspeção-Geral das Atividades em Saúde (General Inspectorate of Health Activities)
An inspectorate under the Ministry of Health: it checks how public and private healthcare providers operate, investigates complaints against them and issues recommendations they are obliged to consider. It does not treat anyone itself and takes no money from patients — it inspects those who do the treating.
Where you come across it. A complaint about a hospital or clinic, inspections of A&E departments, reports on how the SNS deals with foreign patients.
An IGAS recommendation is not yet a rule: a hospital may follow it or reply explaining why it won't. A recommendation becomes a new procedure only once it is laid down in a ministerial order or a portaria.
Official website: igas.min-saude.pt