ULS and IPO will be able to hire up to 150 doctors on exceptional terms

AuLS and IPOs will be able to hire up to 150 doctors with non-term contracts by the end of the year through an exceptional regime to respond to situations of “exact urgency”, according to an order published today.

The order signed by the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, and published in Diário da República, entered into force on October 28, the day of its signature, and remains valid until December 31, 2026.

According to the order, “the conclusion of up to 150 non-term employment contracts, in the medical career, to fill jobs in public business entities integrated in the National Health Service, in exceptional situations of manifest urgency” is authorized.

Contracts can be concluded by the Local Health Units (ULS) and the Portuguese Oncology Institutes (IPO), “based on exceptional situations of manifest urgency, to fill out vacant jobs on the respective staff maps”.

“ Doctors to be employed may not hold a contract of employment in public functions for an indefinite period of time or a non-term contract of employment concluded with entities of the SNS, nor may they have held such a contract in the three months preceding the date on which the entity formalises the application for employment”, the order underlines.

According to the diploma, doctors who complete the medical internship with approval at the special final evaluation period of 2026 and those who, having completed the medical internship with approval at the normal final evaluation time of 2026, have not submitted an application for a competition procedure are excluded from this scheme.

Contracts will have to be preceded by a request from the contracting entity submitted to the Executive Board of the National Health Service, instructed, for each contract, with the basis of their need and with the estimate of the associated production gains and financial impact.

The Executive Board of the SNS will have to forward the request to the Health Minister, together with a favourable prior opinion, within five working days.

In the evaluation of the proposals, several criteria will be considered, namely the institution's portfolio of services, the care profile, the position of the specialty in the Hospital Referencing Networks and the existence of shortages of doctors, both in the requesting institution and in other NHS entities.

The expected production gains, the existence of vacant jobs on staff maps and the financial impact of hiring will also be analysed.

On the latter point, the order provides that any reduction in the costs of additional work and the provision of medical services and the existence of budgetary appropriations shall be considered.

The order also provides that institutions will have to report to the Central Health System Administration (ACSS) on a monthly basis the contracts concluded under this scheme, which, in turn, must transmit that information to the Treasury and Finance Entity at the same frequency.

The Government explains that this exceptional authorisation enables the rapid recruitment of doctors to the SNS by the end of 2026 in exceptional situations which, on grounds, prove to be of clear urgency.

It adds that until that date, “immediate needs for the reinforcement of medical teams, in particular for the implementation of the Seasonal Winter Plan and for the preparation of full implementation on 1 January 2027 of the medical service provision scheme” remain.