Portugal

Accessing care

You can obtain medically necessary treatment by presenting the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), when you are temporarily staying in Portugal. Medically necessary treatment refers to treatment that cannot wait for your return home. You may need such treatment in case of acute illness or accident. You can also receive treatment related to pregnancy and childbirth or to a chronic illness. The need for treatment must emerge during the course of your stay. If your illness requires regular treatment while you are temporarily staying abroad, contact the health care provider abroad in advance and agree on arranging the treatment. Treatments that need to be arranged in advance include, for example, dialysis, oxygen therapy, specialised asthma treatment and chemotherapy as well as echocardiography in chronic autoimmune diseases.

You will receive treatment on the same terms and at the same price as the locals by presenting your European Health Insurance Card. It is advisable to carry copies of your European Health Insurance Card with you, along with the card itself. If you didn’t have your EHIC with you or it was not accepted, and you were required to pay all the costs of treatment yourself, you might be able to apply for reimbursement from Kela retrospectively.

Madeira and the Azores have their own practices. You can ask about Madeira practices at the Regional Health Department IASAUDE in Funchal (site in Portuguese). In the Azores, you can get information from the local health service department (site in Portuguese) in Angra do Heroismo.

Sudden illness

Doctor

In need of a doctor in mainland Portugal, go to the nearest health centre (Centro de Saúde). The health centres provide general practitioners. Show your European Health Insurance Card and ID and ask to receive treatment in accordance with EU provisions. You will then pay a standard fee (taxa moderadora) for your treatment. The fees vary depending on the procedure.

Medical care is free in some cases for example for patients under the age of 18, pregnant women, the chronically ill and pensioners as residents in Portugal. If you contact the health care helpline (SNS24) before seeking treatment, you can receive a referral for treatment. In this case, you will not have to pay a fee for treatment.

In urgent cases, you can go to the permanent emergency service (Serviço Atendimento Permanente, SAP), which is open 24 hours a day, or to a hospital.

Dentist

There are a limited number of public dental services. You will have to pay a standard fee for treatment in accordance with the procedure.

If you receive a referral for treatment from the health care helpline (SNS24), you will not have to pay a fee for treatment.

Medication

When you collect prescription medication prescribed by a doctor in Portugal from a pharmacy (farmácia), present your European Health Insurance Card. You will then receive a reimbursement for the costs of some medication. The level depends on, among other things, the seriousness of the illness being treated.

You can buy medicines in Portugal also with an electronic prescription that your doctor wrote in Finland. The service is only available in some pharmacies in Portugal. You can find a listing of pharmacies accepting Finnish prescriptions on the website of Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (Serviços Partilhados do Ministério da Saúde, SPMS). You can purchase the medication by showing your passport or official identity card in the pharmacy. However, note that not all medicines can be purchased with an electronic prescription abroad. Check the restrictions on the Kanta.fi website. You can claim reimbursement from Kela retrospectively.

Hospital treatment

Usually, you need a doctor’s referral from the primary healthcare centre for hospital treatment. At the hospital, show your European Health Insurance Card and ID and ask to receive treatment in accordance with EU provisions. You will pay a standard fee (taxa moderadora) for your treatment. The fees vary depending on the procedure. Patient transport in an emergency is free of charge.

If you receive a referral for treatment from the health care helpline (SNS24), you will not have to pay a fee for treatment.

If your illness requires you to use special transport when returning to Finland, you will be liable for the travel costs in their entirety. You are recommended to take out a travel insurance that covers these costs.

Read more about suddenly falling ill in Europe.

Read more about reimbursement of costs of treatment abroad.

Useful websites

If you want to travel to Portugal to use healthcare services there, you should read our website for general information about seeking treatment abroad.

You can find private healthcare service providers operating in Portugal most easily through internet search engines. There are more private hospitals and medical centres in larger towns and tourist areas, such as Lisbon, Porto, Cascais and Algarve.

You can also search for healthcare professionals registered with Portugal´s medical, dental and nurses associations from the Medical Association´s search services:

• Ordem dos enfermeiros (nurses)
• Ordem dos Médicos (doctor search service by speciality and on the basis of geographical area)
• Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas (search service for dentists by area and locality)

Quality and safety of treatment

The Portuguese Medical Association monitors the competence and legality of the activities of physicians. If you have doubts about the doctor´s competence, you can contact the Medical Association (Ordem dos Medicos, website in Portuguese) directly.

Information about healthcare quality control, complaint procedures and clinical standards are available on the website of the Entidade Reguladora da Saúde.

In the event of treatment injuries, the legislation and patient insurance of the country providing the treatment is always applied. In case you are unhappy with the treatment you received, you should primarily try to sort the matter out with the treatment provider. If you wish to make a complaint, you must contact the Entidade Reguladora da Saúde.

Healthcare system

The Portuguese healthcare system is characterized by three coexisting, overlapping systems: the National Healthcare Service NHS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde, SNS), special public and private insurance schemes for certain professions (health subsystems), and private voluntary health insurance. The healthcare system in Portugal consists of a network of public and private health care providers; each of them is connected to the patients in its own way.

The National Healthcare Service provides primary, hospital, ambulatory, palliative and continuous care (long-term care). The National Healthcare Service is managed by the Ministry of Health. There are private healthcare services that have an agreement with the National Health Service and have the same costs for the patient as public healthcare. For non-contracted private health services, the costs of treatment are paid in full by the patient.