The leader of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), Paulo Raimundo, criticized the Government’s 2026 health budget proposal as “propaganda and illusion” in front of the Amadora-Sintra Hospital. He claimed that about half of the purported increase in health expenditure is allocated to the private sector, which he accused of treating illness as a business.
Raimundo also highlighted a perceived “attempt to cut” jobs and intermediate expenses, advocating instead for greater investment in hiring medical staff with an emphasis on career respect, appreciation, and prospects for professional advancement.
“If the career itself is valued, if there are prospects for professional progression, we have no doubt that professionals, given the option, will choose the National Health Service, because there is a deep commitment to the National Health Service,” he stated.
The communist leader emphasized the need for healthcare solutions that meet patient needs, focusing on the “rather common tragedy” involving pregnant women and births occurring outside hospital settings.
“This situation cannot continue. It is inconceivable for a country that, as the prime minister likes to say, is ‘always rising, always improving,’ yet the living conditions of people, particularly users of the National Health Service, see diminished response capabilities,” he lamented.
Raimundo reiterated his assertion that Health Minister Ana Paula Martins is pivotal in what he described as a “plan to dismantle the SNS,” noting that this dismantling progresses with each passing month and will inevitably “leave thousands without access to healthcare.”
When asked about the prime minister’s priority to reduce the payments to SNS suppliers, Raimundo insisted that the real priority of Luís Montenegro’s government is to “dismantle services and transfer them to the private sector.”
“This was a key opportunity for a cut— a cut in the sense of returning the National Health Service’s capacity to address issues currently being outsourced to the private sector,” he argued.
Discussing solutions for attracting doctors to the SNS, the PCP leader emphasized that “there is no magic formula,” but enhancing career rights and salaries would “naturally attract professionals to the SNS with an honorable commitment” to “serve the population.”
Raimundo pointed out that current trends show “exactly the opposite,” criticizing Ana Paula Martins for what he described as a “crusade against temporary doctors.”
“We cannot maintain the SNS, and particularly not hospital emergency services, dependent on temporary doctors. That much is clear. But how is this resolved? By eliminating temporary doctors right now? What will happen to the emergency services? What happens to their functioning? That is not feasible,” he remarked.
