LISBON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- As Europe swelters through the summer of 2026, Portugal's emergency departments are facing a familiar crisis: patients waiting hours, and in some cases more than a day, to see a doctor as staff shortages and seasonal demand put renewed pressure on the country's public healthcare system.
At Hospital do Barreiro, in the Setubal district south of Lisbon, one patient said he brought his mother to the emergency department of the hospital on Saturday and was told that the doctor on duty would not arrive until that evening and that patients would not be seen before then.
"That is not a normal situation," said a patient Sunday at the Barreiro hospital who asked not to be identified. He spent more than 24 hours waiting for a first medical observation.
He was not alone. On Sunday, patients continued to wait as the hours passed, highlighting the strain facing Portugal's National Health Service (SNS) at a time when high summer temperatures and seasonal demand are adding to existing staffing pressures.
The problem is reflected in official data.
Between June 21 and Aug. 12, patients classified with yellow wristbands, the second-highest urgency category in Portugal's color-coded triage system, waited an average of 56 minutes for their first medical observation, according to the SNS monitoring portal. The category carries a recommended maximum waiting time of 60 minutes.
That average was six minutes longer than during the same period last year, although the situation varied sharply between hospitals.
Barreiro was among the hardest-hit facilities. On Aug. 16, the SNS portal showed a waiting time of 11 hours and 38 minutes for yellow-wristband patients and more than 20 hours for those classified green, the lowest urgency category. Across all triage categories, the average waiting time approached 15 hours.
Local media reported even longer waits in individual cases. One patient's father said his child, who had been classified as yellow, had waited more than 24 hours.
The pressure was not confined to Barreiro.
At Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon's main public hospital, green-wristband patients were waiting about 10 hours for an initial observation on Sunday morning, while the average across all categories stood at seven hours.
In the Algarve region about 280 km south of Lisbon, Hospital de Portimao on Sunday recorded an average wait of more than six and a half hours, with green-wristband patients waiting nearly 11 hours. Garcia de Orta Hospital in Almada reported four-hour waits for urgent cases, while Hospital de Sao Joao in Porto recorded a wait of three hours and 37 minutes.
SNS data show that Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the Centre region and the Alentejo were among the areas most frequently affected by prolonged emergency-room waits.
For Xavier Barreto, president of the Association of Hospital Administrators, the situation could worsen in the weeks ahead. He pointed to a shortage of doctors available for on-call shifts, combined with a seasonal increase in demand, as key factors behind the pressure.
Francisco Jeronimo, who brought his mother to the hospital on Sunday, said staff shortages were clearly a reality, but that those on duty were doing their best.
Portugal has struggled for years with shortages of emergency medicine specialists and difficulties filling overnight and weekend shifts. Pay structures and working conditions have made some positions difficult to fill, leaving hospitals increasingly dependent in some cases on contracted or visiting physicians.
When those arrangements cannot be completed, gaps appear in emergency rosters.
Health Minister Ana Paula Martins has acknowledged that the current waiting times are unacceptable, particularly for urgent patients. She has also warned that further increases in demand could trigger another wave of long waits, while maintaining that emergency services are functioning better than in previous years.
The summer crisis is therefore not simply a story about overcrowded emergency rooms. It is a window into broader structural problems confronting Portugal's National Health Service, established in 1979.
The system is facing shortages of doctors and nurses, rising demand from an ageing population and difficulties maintaining adequate staffing across different parts of the healthcare network.
Experts said patients also face long waits for surgery and specialist consultations, while millions reportedly remain without a registered family doctor. Some healthcare services, including obstetric units, have faced temporary closures, while problems with healthcare technology platforms have added another layer of frustration.
Emergency departments have consequently become the most visible pressure point in the system.
They are designed to deal with urgent and life-threatening conditions, but they also absorb patients who cannot obtain timely access to primary care. Healthcare administrators often describe this as the "inappropriate use" of emergency services.
For the man still waiting in the Barreiro hospital corridor at midnight, however, the structural problems were far removed from his immediate reality. He had come because someone he loved needed a doctor.
By morning, he was still waiting.
