Only 231 of the 389 new family doctors chose a position in the NHS

According to what the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS) told Lusa today, the percentage of 39 percent of occupation of family doctor vacancies in 2025, "although low", was higher than those recorded in 2023 (32 percent) and 2024 (28 percent).

In the first term of 2025, 389 doctors graduated in general and family medicine, with the Ministry of Health approving a total number of vacancies greater than the number of new specialists «to accommodate the largest number of doctors available and waiting to be hired, as assistants», the first level of the career, said the ACSS.

585 vacancies were opened, 412 applications were submitted, but only 231 were filled. In other words, around 60 percent of the total places available in the competition remained unfilled.

“In the specific case of general and family medicine, the opening of more vacancies does not necessarily mean a higher percentage of occupancy rate”, claimed the ACSS, pointing to the example of the first period of 2024, when 904 vacancies were opened and only 255 were filled.

ACSS data also indicate that in two ULS none of the vacancies were filled, such as Alto Alentejo, where the 12 places put up for competition were left unfilled, and Estuário do Tejo, which had 37 vacancies that were left empty.

In Lisbon, the region with the greatest shortage of family doctors, at the ULS Santa Maria, of the 33 advertised vacancies, only seven were filled, while only 11 of the 40 places available at the ULS in São José were filled.

The ULS of Western Lisbon countered the low vacancy occupancy rate, managing to fill 20 of the 23 vacancies it had available.

In the Algarve, of the 34 vacancies put up for competition, 13 were filled and 21 were unoccupied.

On Friday, June 20, the Order of Physicians defended the opening of all available vacancies in areas where there is a shortage of family doctors and warned of the “glaring failures” that occurred in the placement of new general and family medicine specialists.

"It is unacceptable that there are patients without a family doctor and, at the same time, specialists in general and family medicine without a job. This is a management problem, not a resource problem," warned the president Carlos Cortes, quoted in a statement from the order.

According to the Order of Physicians ( OM ), the situation of general and family medicine “has reached a critical point”, with thousands of users still without a family doctor, while the “public response remains marked by inaction and glaring failures in making specialists available”.

For the Independent Doctors' Union ( SIM ), the fact that 60 percent of vacancies remained unfilled is a "clear reflection of a system that fails professionals and users", a scenario that it considered "not new" and constitutes an "alarm signal that cannot continue to be ignored".

Among the main reasons for this “rejection”, the union structure identified the lack of opening of all necessary vacancies, claiming that freedom of choice, combined with attractive conditions, is what keeps doctors in the National Health Service (SNS), “not administrative imposition”.

According to SIM, the fact that these vacancies were left unfilled is also due to delays in the competitions and the lack of transparency and predictability in the process, although recognizing “substantial improvements” in this competition compared to the previous one.

The latest data available on the SNS transparency portal indicate that the number of users without a family doctor has increased throughout this year, rising from 1,564,203 in January to 1,633,701 in April, that is, around 70 thousand more people.

Photo: Sasun Bughdaryan / Unsplash.