Portugal abandons 2027 pledge to assign family doctors to all patients
Portugal's government has admitted it will fail to meet its promise of assigning a family doctor to every patient by 2027. The pledge, originally made by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro during his 2024 election campaign, aimed to eliminate the shortage within two years. However, recent figures show the problem has only worsened over time. In February 2024, around 1.53 million patients lacked an assigned family doctor. By January 2026, that number had grown to 1.6 million, despite a slight increase in overall primary care enrolment. The total number of registered patients rose by 3.3%—from 10.4 million in early 2024 to 10.75 million by February 2026.
Montenegro's government had proposed an emergency plan to fix the issue within its first 60 days in office. Yet, on March 25, 2026, Health Minister Ana Paula Martins confirmed the target would not be met. Official data on the number of active family doctors remains unavailable, leaving gaps in understanding the full scale of the challenge.
The admission marks a setback for Montenegro's 2024 campaign promise, which had set a 2025 deadline for universal family doctor coverage. With the shortage persisting and no clear resolution in sight, patients continue to face delays in accessing primary care. The government has not announced a revised timeline for addressing the issue.
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