Establishing High-Performance Centers bears some resemblance to Integrated Responsibility Centers (CRIs), but with two crucial distinctions and tailored specifically for obstetrics, stated Ana Paula Martins during the Council of Ministers briefing, which took place today after being postponed on Wednesday due to the death of former Prime Minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão.
Ana Paula Martins noted that, in the future, these centers could be adapted to other areas, and healthcare professionals will receive “individual incentives” based on productivity and “quality of services provided.”
“With very differentiated services, these centers will begin experimentally in 2026. We will need to evaluate them naturally, and they will focus on high-complexity hospitals, what we call level 3. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t include a level 2 hospital like Garcia de Orta, given its importance in the Setúbal Peninsula,” she mentioned.
The Government aims for these centers to ensure “a list of highly differentiated services, training, and research” within the National Health Service (SNS) and aims to make professionals want to stay in the SNS after completing their residency and possibly encourage some to return.
The High-Performance Centers in Obstetrics and Gynecology will be piloted at the local health units of Santo António, São João, São José, Santa Maria, Loures-Odivelas, and Almada-Seixal, with financial incentives based on productivity and quality of care, which can reach up to 30% for nurses and up to 50% for doctors.
The shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly in specialties like obstetrics and gynecology, has been identified as a leading barrier to accessing the SNS, resulting in temporary closures of emergency services, especially in the Setúbal Peninsula.
The SNS Executive Directorate has acknowledged that despite improvements in emergency operations this year, with fewer closed days than in 2024, significant resource shortages remain, notably in gynecology/obstetrics and pediatrics.
From January to August this year, the obstetrics services with the most closure days were the local health unit (ULS) emergency departments of Arco Ribeirinho (Barreiro and Montijo hospitals) and Almada/Seixal.
