The National Health Service lost, in 2022 alone, more than 3000 doctors and nurses. According to data by the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS) released to CNN Portugal, last year 1,488 doctors and 1,782 nurses left the National Health Service (SNS) in Portugal.
The Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS) says that 1047 doctors were hired, however.
Even so, hospitals and health centers lost more than 400 clinicians in just one year, a drop that the organization says is compensated with the return of professionals who were on sick leave.
Among departures due to retirement or termination of contract, in 2022 a total of 1791 physicians left the SNS, but, at the end of the year, 303 returned to the public health sector, and “were active in the management system of human resources”. Calculations show, including exit and re-entries: 1488 clinicians effectively left.
In the case of nurses, the number of departures is even higher. During the last year, there were 2477 departures due to retirement and contract termination, of which 1800 were 'effective'. That is, 695 returned to the SNS by the end of the year.
The dimension of the phenomenon experienced by the SNS in 2022 is visible in the numbers of physicians leaving in the previous two years. In 2020 and 2021, according to Público, 1285 doctors left the SNS, 979 permanently, which means that in 2022 more doctors left public hospitals than in the sum of the other two years. As for nurses in 2020 and 2021, 3647 asked to leave, 1860 permanently.
Source https://tvi.iol.pt - Written by Daniela Costa Teixeira
