The Portuguese government has implemented significant changes to the National Health Service (NHS) structure through a recent Decree-Law that extincted the five existing Regional Health Administrations (RHAs) and led to the revision of competencies and functions of the Directorate General of Health (DGH), the National Health Institute (NHI), the Central Administration of the Health System (CAHS), and the Executive Board of the NHS (EB).
Public health services, including the public health surveillance system, were transferred to the DGH as well as the regional coordination of the health programs. The regional public health laboratories became a responsibility of the NHI. The management of palliative care and continued care, the regional planning of human resources, the technical support to health services, the monitoring of infrastructures’ funding, the implementation and development of Family Health Units, and the management of primary healthcare were transferred to the EB. All issues concerning human resources (training, recruitment) were transferred to the CAHS, and the competencies related to the Resilience and Recovery Plan and the competencies of the primary health services were transferred to the Local Health Units.
These structural changes are anticipated to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of the NHS organizational model, to better accommodate territorial diversity in healthcare provision and to ensure improved healthcare delivery to citizens across Portugal.
More information (in Portuguese): https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/decreto-lei/54-2024-887091776