The Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS) announced today that by the end of December 2024, there had been a record total of 713 retired doctors actively working in the National Health Service (SNS).
According to ACSS data, out of these 713 clinicians, 464 were in primary healthcare, 234 worked in public hospitals, and 15 in central services.
Out of the 713 active retired doctors, 85.8% were working on a part-time basis.
This situation arises from an exceptional regime that came into effect in 2010 for a three-year period, allowing the hiring of retired doctors by SNS services and establishments to address the shortage of doctors in Portugal. This regime has been extended repeatedly since then.
For 2024, the previous government set the quota at 900 retired doctors to be hired under this exceptional regime, a number defined annually by an official directive.
For this year, a directive by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health published today in the Official Gazette increases the quota, allowing up to 1,070 retired doctors to be hired.
According to the directive, this quota of 1,070 includes the establishment of new work contracts with retired doctors, as well as the renewal of existing contracts as of December 31, 2024.
The document also highlights that the current demographics of the medical profession have led to a high number of retirements, a trend expected to continue in the coming years, particularly in the specialty of general and family medicine (family doctors).
The strengthening of the SNS’s healthcare response with retired doctors is a measure included in the emergency and transformation health plan approved by the government at the end of May 2024.
A report on health human resources released in 2023 warned that one in four doctors was over 65 years old, an aging trend in the profession that is predicted to lead to an estimated wave of around 5,000 retirements by 2030.
“The decade from 2020 to 2030 will be marked by a high volume of retirements of SNS doctors. During this period, about five thousand doctors are expected to retire, in addition to those who work exclusively in the private sector,” stated the document by researchers Pedro Pita Barros and Eduardo Costa.
