The National Health Service (SNS) is at the forefront this week due to a conflict between the Chairman of the Physicians’ Guild, Carlos Cortes, and the Executive Director of the SNS (DE-SNS), Álvaro Almeida, concerning alleged instructions for budget cuts scheduled for 2026.
The controversy began after the publication of a report that public health system hospitals would need to implement these budget cuts, potentially impacting surgeries, consultations, and other healthcare services.
The sources indicated that the SNS CEO communicated a need for spending reductions on acquisitions and capped hospital production to match the current year’s level.
In response, Carlos Cortes expressed deep disappointment, labeling these instructions as “profoundly lamentable and miserable,” highlighting concerns raised by hospital management councils.
“The person who should defend the National Health Service ends up playing this lamentable role, sacrificing the SNS’s response due to blind budget cuts required for 2026,” he criticized, voicing existing worries about the detrimental impact on healthcare.
The Physicians’ Guild classified the directive for hospitals to cut expenditures in 2026 as “profoundly lamentable and miserable,” warning it could harm patients and lengthen waiting lists.
Lusa | 11:16 – 29/10/2025
What does the SNS CEO say?
Álvaro Almeida initially refused to comment when questioned after a conference on healthcare evolution within Local Health Units and the SNS, avoiding the topic altogether.
Later, a DE-SNS statement indicated that the SNS CEO would not make any public comments on this matter.
Regarding the comments by the Physicians’ Guild’s head, the DE-SNS noted that these were “generically false and employed an unrefined style, arising from a misinterpretation of an imprecise journalistic article.”
The Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS) stated that the comments by the head of the Physicians’ Guild, Carlos Cortes, regarding the announced hospital expenditure cuts are “generically false” and expressed an “unrefined style.” The SNS Executive Director, Álvaro Almeida, “will not issue any public comments.”
Notícias ao Minuto with Lusa | 19:02 – 29/10/2025
“If it weren’t for the latent ignorance in the statements made, particularly regarding the SNS organization and the Executive Directorate’s competencies, and the content of the discussion at the Managers’ Assembly, they could have been considered offensive,” the note continued, lamenting “the use of populism and demagoguery.”
The DE-SNS did not clarify which parts of Carlos Cortes’ statements were false nor why the news report was inaccurate.
And the Government?
Among the strong reactions labeling the healthcare situation as “chaotic” and “regrettable” with “disinvestment” in this sector, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro responded.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro stated that the term “cuts” is incorrect, explaining that “there is no instruction to cut anything.” He described an approach emphasizing “efficiency” and resource “optimization.”
Maria Gouveia with Lusa | 19:55 – 29/10/2025
The Prime Minister was queried about the situation, clarifying that “the word is not correct” and that “no instructions to cut anything exist.” He highlighted a “stricter” orientation focused on efficiency and resource optimization.
Regarding calls for Health Minister Ana Paula Martins to step down, he asserted, “If she were unable, she wouldn’t be in the Government.”
