Health Systems in Transition - Portugal

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Health systems in transition Portugal 84
Regarding primary care provision, Table 4.3 shows the distribution of public
primary care facilities across the districts and respective regions in Portugal.
Districts of Lisbon and Oporto concentrate the biggest number of primary care
facilities (Table 4.3). The geographic distribution of those structures is adequate,
as only 0.03% of the population is living more than 30 minutes away from a
primary care facility (ERS, 2010). However, not all structures are allocated the
same level of human resources. Hence, despite living close to a primary care
unit, an NHS user might not be registered with a GP.
Table 4.3
Number of public primary care facilities, by region and district, 2015
District Number of facilities a
Portugal 1 772
North Braga 98
Bragança 54
Oporto 191
Viana do Castelo 31
Vila Real 50
Total 424
Centre Aveiro 94
Castelo Branco 83
Coimbra 68
Guarda 82
Leiria 82
Viseu 48
Total 457
Lisbon and the Tagus Valley Lisbon 207
Santarém 158
Setúbal 86
Total 451
Alentejo Beja 92
Évora 66
Portalegre 68
Total 226
Algarve Faro 91
Total 91
Azores 70
Madeira 53
Source : Authors based on data available at
Note: aThe number of facilities includes extensions/posts that are part of the same unit, but located in a different building/infrastructure.