Family doctor in Portugal: how to get one and what to do until you have one
A médico de família is not just “the doctor for colds” but your way into public healthcare: referrals to specialists, prescriptions for regular medicines, medical certificates and vaccinations all go through them. In summer 2026, one in six registered patients in the country has no family doctor, and almost one in three in the Lisbon area. Here: how to join the waiting list, how to check whether you have been given a doctor, what works in the meantime and where to go when the health centre says “no places”.
What a family doctor does and what you can't do without one
A family doctor (médico de família, specialty medicina geral e familiar — general and family medicine) works at an SNS health centre: a Centro de Saúde, or more precisely one of its units — a USF (Unidade de Saúde Familiar) or a UCSP (Unidade de Cuidados de Saúde Personalizados). In the public system they are the gatekeeper: almost everything else starts with them.
What goes through them: — referrals (credencial, referenciação) to a hospital specialist, for tests, ultrasound scans, endoscopy. With such a referral the test is free or almost free, including at private clinics that have a contract with the SNS: in June 2026 someone had a gastroscopy this way, paying only for the sedation, when the price without a referral is about €400; — prescriptions, and above all for regular medicines: a prescription issued under your utente number gives you the state discount at the pharmacy (June 2026); — vaccinations, both under the national schedule and outside it (the doctor writes a prescription for the vaccine, a nurse gives the jab); — monitoring of chronic conditions and of straightforward pregnancies; — certificates: for school, for work, the atestado médico for a driving licence (though any licensed private clinic will also issue this one — for a fee); — sick leave, if the illness lasts longer than the three days you can cover yourself through SNS 24.
Hence a simple point that comes up in the chats all the time: without a family doctor you can get a one-off consultation and a prescription at the health centre, but a referral to a specialist or for planned tests usually not. That is the main loss.
“Look, this is roughly how it works: I asked my family doctor for a referral for a gastroendoscopy, she wrote it. Private clinics have free slots, but the price is about 400 euros.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal04.06.2026
“If you go to the saúde, the GP can not only write you a prescription, but the medicines will be discounted too.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatleiria17.06.2026
How many people are without a doctor now and why location decides everything
The figures below come from the SNS transparency portal, the dataset on patients registered in primary care; we downloaded it on 29 August 2026. The latest complete month is June 2026.
Nationally: 10,811,298 people are registered, of whom 1,672,130 have no family doctor. That is 15.5%, one in six. Only 12,905 people in the whole country chose to go without a doctor: the remaining million and a half are waiting not by choice.
But by region the difference is so great it is like two different countries: — North — 2.4% without a doctor; — Centre — 9.5%; — Alentejo — 18.7%; — Algarve — 21.8%; — Lisbon and the Tagus Valley — 30.0%, that is 1,179,164 people. A year earlier, in June 2025, there were 1,130,216: almost 49,000 more in a year.
Within regions the spread is even greater. In June 2026 the worst were ULS Estuário do Tejo (47.7% without a doctor), Oeste (46.6%), Arrábida (39.8%), Arco Ribeirinho (38.1%), Loures / Odivelas (33.9%), Médio Tejo (33.7%) and Amadora / Sintra (33.4% — that is 194,681 people, the most in the country). Practically everyone has a doctor in ULS Tâmega e Sousa, Barcelos / Esposende and Médio Ave (only a few dozen people there are without one), in Alto Minho it is 1.1%, in Matosinhos 2.0%, and in the three ULS of Porto and Gaia from 3.4 to 4.0%.
The shortage of doctors is not general but precisely where most newcomers live. According to the results of the recruitment round announced in July 2026, 273 of 711 family doctor posts were filled — 38%; the North filled 95% of its posts, the Algarve 88%, and Lisbon and the Tagus Valley 113 of 446. On the Alentejo coast not a single doctor was hired out of a possible 24.
The practical conclusion for anyone choosing where to rent: fifteen kilometres one way or the other can mean the difference between “got a doctor after six months” and “third year on the list”.
“By the way, about the central de saude, we left Portugal for 5 years, and before, an appointment with the family doctor was generally a week's wait, or the same day if you called. Yet a family planning/pregnancy appointment is for April. And with ordinary health issues: sorry.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa20.03.2026
“There aren't enough family doctors. My appointments are also several months away. I just go to the health centre and join the walk-in queue, don't wait long and sometimes even get my own family doctor)”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa20.03.2026
How to join the waiting list for a doctor
The waiting list for a family doctor is not a separate sign-up but a result of registering with a health centre (inscrição). The procedure is as follows.
1. Find your unidade de saúde — a USF or UCSP. If you don't know which one you belong to, look in your SNS 24 account or in the letter you got with your utente number: it says where to go.
2. Go there or write to the unit's email address. There is no single procedure: some see people in person with a ticket in the morning, some want you to send scans first, some reply with a letter giving a date to come in. You are usually asked for your passport, residence permit (or proof of your AIMA application), NIF, NISS and proof of address — a certificate from the parish council (atestado da Junta de Freguesia) or a rental contract registered with the tax office.
3. Right there you fill in a request to be assigned a family doctor. It is a separate form, and you have to ask for it: people are on a health centre's books for years without being on the waiting list because nobody submitted the request for them (April 2026).
4. If you are told “no places”, ask to be put on the waiting list (lista de espera) and don't leave without it. Being refused a doctor doesn't cancel either your place in the queue or your right to be seen: until you have a permanent doctor, a free doctor or the doctor on duty must see you (discussion in a chat, May 2025).
How long you'll wait, nobody can say in advance. In conversations from 2023–2026 there is everything: six months in Porto, two years and “seven hundredth in the queue” there too, ten years of waiting for one Lisbon family. There is no general figure in the archive, and we won't invent one.
“If you were refused a family doctor because there aren't enough places, ask to be put on the waiting list (lista de espera). If you have no family doctor, you're entitled to a temporary doctor (médico assistente ou médico em regime de recurso) — they have to see you when necessary, especially in urgent or ongoing situations. Don't be shy about asking for a consultation, even if you don't have a permanent family doctor.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal28.05.2025
“You have to ask for a family doctor (sign up for the waiting list) at the same place, at the Centro de Saude. If they haven't already put you on that list automatically, ask at reception on your next visit”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal22.04.2026
How to check whether you have been given a doctor
You have to check yourself: the system doesn't always tell you. Here are the ways.
— Your SNS 24 account (portal or app): it has a “Médico de Família” line. If a name appears, you have a doctor. In August 2026 one family found out about their assignment exactly this way, by chance, looking into the account. — Text message. Some people get a message saying “you have a médico de família, you can make appointments” — but not everyone gets it, and not always. — A paper letter in your letterbox: some centres notify people this way after a move (April 2026).
You won't see your place in the queue anywhere: there is no such figure in the account, and at reception they give a guess. So the only reliable way is to look in your account yourself every few months and remind your health centre about yourself by email once a year.
And while you're at it, check the phone number and address in your details: that is where both appointment invitations and vaccination invitations will be sent.
“And now some good news — family news 😁 Yesterday my daughter found out she now has a family doctor at the Centro de Saúde. When exactly — we don't know 😁 She just logged into her SNS 24 account and saw that there was a doctor's name in the Médico de Família field. Our story with family doctors is this. Our whole family — me, my husband, son and daughter — have been registered at the Centro de Saúde since February 2014. My son and I were given a family doctor in 2022 — I put it down to getting citizenship, but later it turned out we'd been given one before citizenship, when we had permanent residence. But my daughter and husband weren't given a doctor then.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linktrueportugal25.08.2026
“if you're politely persistent, they'll stop trying to fob you off. For example, in Paranhos there's a Saúde where they send everyone without a family doctor (by Covelo park). I don't know about other areas. In general, the letter with your utente should have listed the health centres you can go to.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatporto07.10.2025
Until you have a doctor: same-day appointments at your health centre
Health centres offer same-day appointments — consulta aberta, also called consulta do dia or consulta de urgência. It is a short consultation (usually ten to fifteen minutes) for something urgent but not life-threatening: back pain, cystitis, a wound, a temperature. You don't need a permanent doctor for it — whoever is free sees you.
What it looks like in practice: arrive at opening time, around eight in the morning, take a ticket at reception, wait your turn, get a time for an appointment that day and come back at that hour. In December 2024 this was how the procedure at one centre was described, and in January 2025 the same, only at 8:30. If there are no tickets left for the day, there won't be any more: the number is limited.
At weekends there is an extra service in each area — atendimento complementar, the same thing, but one centre is on duty for several.
The chats disagree here, and the disagreement is worth showing. In Leiria in October 2023 someone wrote that they arrive at eight and see a doctor within an hour. In Porto in July 2025 people said the opposite: same-day appointments had been scrapped, and now you have to call SNS 24, which makes the booking. In Setúbal in March 2024 people advised arriving before opening time and queuing. The procedure differs from centre to centre and changes — ask at your own reception rather than going by someone else's experience from two years ago.
What you get at a same-day appointment: an examination, a prescription, sick leave, sometimes a referral. What you usually don't get is a planned examination or a “check-up”: for that you are sent off to wait for your own doctor.
“First you need to go to your saúde centre (I looked up the nearest one, even if it's the wrong one, they'll tell you from your address which one is definitely yours). And then ask at the centre itself how their sick appointments work. For example, at our centre you need to arrive by 8 in the morning, take a ticket in the queue for reception, wait your turn and ask them to book the child in for a consulta do dia, they'll have to see what time a doctor is available and then tell you (for example it might be 12 noon). Come back at that time, remind reception you're there and wait in the waiting room until the doctor calls you by name and surname.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal17.12.2024
“You can come to the Centro de Saúde at 8:30 and book a same-day appointment, it's called Consulta de Dia. They'll book you in and you'll be seen by whichever doctor is free.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal27.01.2025
SNS 24: phone line, teleconsultation and three days' sick leave
The SNS 24 line — 808 24 24 24 — is open around the clock, in English too. The operator asks questions following a set procedure, and there are then three possible outcomes: advice to stay at home, a teleconsultation with a doctor, or a referenciação — a referral to a specific place, sent by text message. In February 2025 such a message sent someone to the Centro de Atendimento Clínico at a Lisbon health centre, giving its opening hours and noting that this was not an appointment but a referral.
Two practical consequences. First: if you go to hospital with a referral from SNS 24, the A&E visit is free, while without a referral it costs €18 (July 2026, Porto). Second: a referral puts you in a different queue in A&E, and it shows.
Getting through has become harder: in 2025 the number of calls where people waited more than half an hour for an answer rose from 58,000 to 466,000 (figures from the regulator ERS, July 2026). Yet more than 90% of unscheduled appointments arranged through the line took place within 24 hours.
Separately, there is the autodeclaração de doença: a sickness self-declaration that you issue yourself, without a doctor, for up to three days, no more than twice a year. From May 2023 to March 2026, 1,424,665 of them were issued (May 2026). It cannot be extended: if you still feel unwell after three days, you need a doctor.
“I went to the urgência in the last weeks of pregnancy when I got enterovirus. I called the sns 24 hotline and they sent me to the gynaecology urgência at Pedro Hispano hospital.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal28.03.2026
“Call the sns24 service (they'll give you a consultation at the nearest health centre or online, the doctor will write you a prescription and you'll be able to buy it for pennies at any pharmacy”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbaraholka_pt10.07.2026
A private doctor instead of a family doctor: what they can do and what it costs
In a private clinic the family doctor goes by the same name — medicina geral e familiar or clínica geral. You can get an appointment the same day or the next, and that is the main reason people go.
What a private doctor can do: examine you, issue an electronic prescription (under your utente number the medicine is still discounted), issue a certificate, refer you for tests under your insurance. And one more thing few people know: they can write a paper referral to the consulta externa (outpatient clinic) of a public hospital — the patient takes this form to the hospital themselves, and it shortens the route because you don't first have to get an appointment at the health centre (a doctor's explanation, October 2025).
What they don't replace: they don't follow you as a chronic patient in the public system, don't schedule your check-ups and vaccinations, and can't open free SNS referrals on their own.
Money, according to accounts from 2024–2026: an appointment at a health centre with a temporary utente number — €33; a teleconsultation just for a prescription — €50; a certificate for a driving licence — about €35; a visit with an X-ray at a private A&E under insurance — €50. More on clinics and insurance policies in the guides Private clinics in Portugal and Health insurance.
“The last post made me think to remind you that every patient always has a choice of where to be treated/monitored. There are some limits to this rule, but overall it's true. ➡️ If you've gone to a doctor in the private sector but, for example, can't afford the treatment financially or you have a serious illness that insurance doesn't cover (for example, HIV or multiple sclerosis), as long as you have an SNS number (número de utente de saúde = NUS), you can ask them to issue you a referral for routing. 📜 It's a paper form (see attachment).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmedcouplept01.10.2025
“In February I went to book a GP so he'd give me a prescription for pills, they said come in May. I had to do a teleconsultation and pay 50 euros purely for the prescription. The doctor didn't even say anything, was 10 minutes late (out of 15), said read up online. That's crazy, I think.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt23.03.2026
Moving and changing doctor
If you move to another town, the procedure is: register at the new health centre for your new address (a parish council certificate or rental contract), join the waiting list for a doctor there, and deregister from the old one. It is best done in advance: in February 2026 someone in a new town was refused a doctor's appointment until they had re-registered, and the paperwork took several days.
There is an exception many people use: if you got a good doctor at your old centre and the journey is bearable, you don't deregister. In April 2026 a woman wrote that she had been travelling 90 kilometres to her old health centre for five years — because at the new place there is no telling how long the wait for a doctor would be.
A disagreement worth knowing about. In Porto in May 2026 people explained that there is no strict link to your address: you can register at any saúde that has free doctors, even in the next village, and then join the waiting list for a transfer closer to home. In the same Porto a year earlier, in June 2025, someone was told at reception exactly the opposite: an utente number only in “your own” area, and no other way. The practice of a particular reception desk and the rule on paper differ here, so it makes sense to try two or three nearby centres rather than giving up after the first.
Changing doctor within your own health centre means a request to the centre's administration. This works as long as everything in the system is correct: if your doctor has moved to another job but is still listed as yours in the SNS database, you are stuck in a loop — there is nobody to ask for a replacement. Such a case was discussed in August 2025.
“you need to register at the new Centro de Saude on the basis that you live in their area (contract or certificate) And then they'll register you and put you on the waiting list for a family doctor. And the old health centre will deregister you. If you already had a good family doctor at the old Centro de Saude, don't rush to deregister, especially if it's not far to travel. I haven't deregistered from my old health centre for five years now, although it's 90 km from me now. But there's a good family doctor there. And at the new place, by the time you get one...”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal21.04.2026
“If a saúde has no free doctors, they don't take people who've moved either (they put them on the waiting list) and that's most likely why they don't issue an utente number, since that's automatically registration at that saúde. There's NO registration by address here, you can register at any saúde, even one that isn't nearby. They usually know and can tell you which saúde around to go to to get an utente number, because there are free doctors there. For popular places that saúde may not be that close, but in the next village. But there they'll usually issue an utente number and a family doctor on the spot at certain times.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatporto26.05.2026
A temporary utente number: what doesn't work with it
An utente number (número de utente) is issued once and for life, but it has a status, and that is what decides things. A foreigner without a residence permit is usually given a temporary, “transit” status — in December 2025 it was described as lasting 90 days, after which you need to confirm your situation; with a residence permit the number is switched to active.
What happens with a temporary number: — there is no registration with a health centre or a doctor at all, which means no place on the waiting list for a family doctor either; — some services stop being free. In December 2025 a woman with a residence permit but the old temporary status was refused a prescribed injection free of charge and told to pay for the appointment itself; — in A&E a visit with an active number costs €18, and without a valid number and residence permit you pay the full rate (July 2026); — the discount on medicines goes by the number: the prescription is issued under it, and without an active number the pharmacy charges the full price.
So after getting a residence permit, moving or changing documents, you need to update your details in the RNU (Registo Nacional de Utentes — the national patient register): go to your unidade de saúde with your passport, residence permit, NIF, NISS and proof of address. If you get a text message saying “se é residente atualize os seus dados no RNU”, this is what it means (October 2025). How to get the number itself and what to do if they won't give it to you is covered in the guide How to register with a Centro de Saúde.
“The other day I went to the Saúde to get an anti-D immunoglobulin injection. My doctor said this injection is free at the Saúde and paid at private clinics. I decided to try the Saúde, but they told me my utente number was temporary and they couldn't give me the injection free on it, even though I have a residence permit and have been in the country a long time.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal24.12.2025
“Went to the doctor. He tried to stick my utente into the discharge note. Says it doesn't work, it's not linked to the sns, or something like that. Says it needs activating somehow, but he doesn't know how”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal10.07.2026
How a public doctor is better and worse than a private one
The pros of the public system: — free or almost: the appointment itself costs nothing, prescription medicines are discounted; — referrals with which tests, scans and specialist appointments are free, including at private labs with an SNS contract; — your whole history in one system: prescriptions, vaccinations, tests and appointments are visible in your SNS 24 account, and the next doctor sees them too; — they call you in themselves — for vaccinations, a child's routine check-ups, seasonal jabs.
The cons: — the wait. In March 2026 in Lisbon someone wrote that the next routine appointment with their own family doctor was four months away; in Porto in January 2026 the SNS 24 app also showed the next free date four months ahead; — fifteen to twenty minutes per appointment, including the greeting and the examination (a doctor's explanation, March 2026); a prepared list of questions really does save the appointment; — it is hard to be seen the same day: only through same-day appointments, SNS 24 or A&E; — you don't choose your doctor. At a private clinic you choose yourself and can change doctor without giving reasons.
One observation against the common idea that “the SNS is for those who can't afford anything else”: according to a NOVA SBE study published in March 2026, in 2025 14.1% of adults saw a family doctor at a private clinic, and about 70% of them have a family doctor in the SNS. So private appointments are more often taken on top of, not instead of, the public system.
And some comfort for those on the waiting list: according to the transparency portal for June 2026, in half of the ULS about half of the people without a family doctor managed to get a health centre appointment within the year. Without a doctor the system works worse, but it doesn't switch off.
“How to get the most out of a visit to the doctor In Portugal, and in many other European countries too, there's this problem: you can't see a doctor quickly or often. You can wait several months for an appointment with your family doctor at the health centre, and even with a paid doctor the next slot is sometimes a long way off. And when you do get to your appointment, you need to be ready for the fact that we have 15-20 minutes (including the greeting and a digital examination) – and it's best to spend that time as usefully and enjoyably as possible.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkdoutora_mariia12.03.2026
“Personally I've had a very positive experience at the centro de Saúde I'm at USF alto dos mainhos A really great family doctor, always gives sensible answers to questions and works strictly by evidence-based medicine Name Elmano Margato No real problems with appointments either, as a rule they find a slot within a week, if it's something urgent and there are no appointments with the family doctor - they book you with another one Everything absolutely free, if they prescribe tests, you can have them done at private clinics that work with the SNS I've only just started my pregnancy care, only one more appointment so far I have insurance through work, but I prefer to go for free”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal13.09.2025
The snags people ask about most often
The doctor is on record but isn't actually seeing patients. This usually means they have left, gone on maternity leave or holiday, and the system hasn't been updated. The only cure is a letter to the centre's administration, and if there is silence, a complaint (August 2025).
A prescription for a regular medicine is only renewed at an appointment, and the appointment is months away. First try renewal without a visit: SNS 24 has a separate service for this, and your health centre's email often works faster than reception. If that doesn't work, a teleconsultation with a private doctor costs €50 (March 2026).
After a move you've been assigned to another centre. This is the lawful procedure, but it cuts your link with your previous doctor; if you're happy with your previous one, don't rush to deregister until you've been given a doctor at the new place.
Deregistration after a long absence. Since June 2026, people who haven't used the SNS for more than five years are moved to waiting status, and their place on the doctor's list goes to the queue. About 122,000 people were covered by the rule, plus another 262,000 with outdated or incomplete details in the RNU (March 2026). Nobody is removed from the SNS, and access to care remains — what is lost is the assigned doctor. Any contact with the system counts, not just a visit to the health centre. A separate order (Despacho n.º 3118/2026) moved Portuguese citizens permanently living abroad to “registo atualizado não residente” status — doctors are not kept for them either (July 2026).
Hence a practical tip: if you are going away for a long time or only use private clinics, log into your SNS 24 account every couple of years and update your details. Otherwise the doctor you waited years for will be removed without a word.
And one more thing. A text message “from the ministry” demanding payment for a visit can be a scam: in January 2026 someone wrote to the ministry and was told it was a scam. Check bills at your health centre or in your SNS 24 account, not via a link in a message.
“I wanted to ask the community for advice. Here's the situation. A woman (refugee status from Ukraine) was being seen by a particular médico de família at the centro de saúde. About six months ago the médico de família changed jobs, moved to another medical facility. Now our woman is in a situation like running in circles. She can't ask the centro de saúde administration to change her médico de família, because in the SNS system the information about the médico de família who moved to another facility hasn't been updated.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal03.08.2025
“Sharing my experience on this: Utente SNS n.xxxxxxxxx, se e residente atualize os seus dados no RNU, junto de uma unidade de saude do SNS. Obrigado. Let's start with the funny bit, but it might be useful to someone. Sitting in the queue at the health centre I realised the Utente number in the message wasn't mine) and in the end they told me everything was fine and I didn't need to do anything. So don't forget to check After getting the message above, I emailed the Health Unit listed in my SNS 24 app - UCSP ALAMEDA. Asked what I needed to do and what documents were needed.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt23.10.2025
If they drag their feet and don't reply
The approach that actually works, according to the chats, goes in stages.
1. An email to your health centre — with your utente number, name, phone number and a short description: what you are asking for and how long you have been waiting. They often reply not by email but with a text message giving a date to come in.
2. The Livro de Reclamações — the complaints book. Every health centre has one, and there is an online one at livroreclamacoes.pt. In August 2025 a woman in Almada was refused by email, by phone and in person; after a complaint in the book, two weeks later they found her a place, called her themselves, and have booked her normally ever since. How it is filed and what happens next is in the guide Livro de Reclamações.
3. ERS (Entidade Reguladora da Saúde — the health regulator), if the provider doesn't respond even to the complaint. On this and on getting a second opinion, see the guide What to do if a doctor brushes you off.
What the archive doesn't have is a single story of a complaint speeding up the waiting list for a family doctor itself. It shifts a specific refusal: they won't book you, won't see you, won't issue a number. It can't conjure a doctor out of nowhere.
If something is urgent right now and the health centre isn't available, what to do is in the guide Emergency care.
“The saúde in Almada wouldn't see me even through the SNS, ignored my emails, didn't answer the phone at all, I came in person, they also refused to book me for another day. I came with a text from SNS 24 saying: come to the saúde on such-and-such a date. The saúde turned me away because it's not an appointment, since no time was set, only the clinic and the day. They wouldn't let me see the duty doctor, because ‘one doctor for the whole clinic…. And if you're feeling unwell, go to the urgência’. I had to write a complaint in the complaints book describing all of this. Two weeks later they found me a place.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal29.08.2025
“I wrote emails to my Saúde with all my details (utente number, name, phone number). they don't usually reply to them, they just set a date and time for a visit and send a text.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal08.07.2026
What it costs, according to community conversations
| Health centre appointment with a temporary utente number | €33 | source |
| Teleconsultation just for a prescription | €50 | source |
| Medical certificate for a driving licence (atestado médico) | about €35 | source |
| A&E visit with an active utente number | €18 | source |
| Visit with an X-ray at a private A&E under insurance | €50 | source |
| Gastroscopy without a referral, private clinic | about €400 | source |
How it went for people
A doctor appeared without a word, a year and a half after applying
The family has been registered at their Centro de Saúde since February 2014. The mother and son were given a family doctor in 2022 and notified by text message; the husband and daughter were not. In March 2025 the daughter filled in requests to be assigned a doctor for herself and her father, and they were told to wait. No further notifications came, and the family was about to go to the health centre to sort it out, but the daughter happened to look into her SNS 24 account and saw a doctor's name in the “Médico de Família” field — the earliest appointment available was in December. The father has still not been given a doctor. August 2026.
“No doctors and no places” — and an assignment two weeks later
A woman had used private healthcare for five years; she had an utente number, and she went to the health centre in Odivelas to ask for a family doctor and register her pregnancy. At reception she was told there were no doctors and no places, and that she could complain in the complaints book. She asked to be transferred to a health centre that did have doctors; she was told they would try in the neighbouring area, and that an answer would come “in a week, or in a month, or never”. The assignment to another clinic came two weeks later: there she was seen, registered, sent a reminder text and phoned. February 2026.
Six months on the waiting list — and appointments four months ahead
Someone in Porto asked for a family doctor, was told there were none free and was offered a place on the waiting list. A doctor was assigned about six months later — this was in early 2023, and back then, in their words, things were easier to sort out with the doctor. By January 2026 the health centre (USF Lordelo do Ouro) had stopped booking family doctor appointments directly and sends people to book through the SNS 24 app; the earliest free date the app showed in January was 12 May. January 2026, a story told in Ukrainian, retold.
Two years of waiting, seven hundredth place — and appointments by ticket
A family registered at the health centre for their address with a certificate from the parish council. They have been waiting for a family doctor for a second year and, in their words, are about seven hundredth in the queue — together with Portuguese people. At the same time they get consultations and prescriptions at the health centre without any trouble: the key is to arrive at opening time and take a ticket. But without a family doctor they are not given referrals to a specialist or for tests. October 2025, a story told in Ukrainian, retold.
Four months waiting for a number by email, got it in five minutes
A woman requested an utente number by email on 6 November and waited four months for a reply; her last email got an automatic answer: there are a lot of requests, and if you need emergency care, here is the address, but without a number you may have to pay. She went to the Loja do Cidadão in Porto: there in five minutes they set up her digital key (Chave Móvel Digital) and booked her to come back a week later for the number. On the appointed day everything was done in five minutes, and the number appeared in her online account three hours later. March 2026.
“An utente number only in your own area”
A family came to a health centre in the centre of Porto for an utente number. A notice on the door said that from 1 June this matter was handled at a different address. They went there; the receptionist wanted to help but explained that numbers are issued only at the health centre for your own area, and gave them yet another email address. June 2025.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.