Monitoring data on primary healthcare services indicate that in the past year, 85.4% of registered patients in mainland Portugal had a designated family doctor.
In 2023, the percentage decreased to 83.5%, lower than the 85.6% recorded in 2022 and 88.8% in 2021.
The highest coverage is noted in the Northern region, where 97.3% of patients have a family doctor. Conversely, the lowest coverage is found in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, with only 72.1% of patients having access to a family doctor, making it the sole region below 80%.
The utilization rate of medical consultations remained at 69%. However, there was an increase among patients without a family doctor, from 48% in 2023 to 52.7% last year.
“Typically, local health units with a higher percentage of patients with a family doctor show increased usage rates of consultations. This indicates that having a family doctor is a critical factor in promoting access to primary healthcare within the National Health Service (SNS),” the report states.
Similarly, consultation utilization rates by patients without a family doctor are lower in local health units with fewer patients having an assigned doctor.
Last year saw nearly 19 million in-person medical consultations, a 6.2% rise from 2023, and 17.3 million in-person nursing consultations, an increase of 10.1%. Meanwhile, non-contact consultations declined by 1.2% and 4%, respectively.
In contrast, the number of home medical consultations rose by 19.7% compared to 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
The ERS report also highlights a 33.5% reduction in unscheduled consultations for individuals aged 65 and older, marking the lowest figure since 2019, alongside a 48.2% rise in consultations prompted by influenza.
Regarding risk group monitoring, more diabetic patients underwent foot examinations, more women received mammograms over the past two years, more women had colpocytology tests (which screen for cervical cancer), and more patients underwent colon and rectal cancer screenings.
On the downside, there was a decrease in newborns having at least one medical consultation within 28 days of birth and receiving a nursing home visit within the first 15 days of life.
