Increase in Medical Staff at Local Hospital
The new Sintra Hospital, inaugurated this month in Casal da Cavaleira, has been designed to serve approximately 550,000 patients [1]. With a covered area of 10,500 square meters and an uncovered area of 49,000 square meters, the hospital offers a wide range of medical services beyond emergency care [1].
However, the main problem with the emergency room at the Sintra Hospital is the inability to "drain patients" from the emergency rooms to the wards [1]. Despite the hiring of at least three new doctors in early August, the hospital's basic emergency department currently has six doctors, five of whom were transferred from the previous emergency department in Algueirão Mem-Martins [1].
This issue is expected to be gradually alleviated with the installed capacity at Sintra Hospital. Yet, the opening of the new hospital's emergency department has not yet decreased pressure on the emergency services at Hospital Fernando Fonseca. The volume at Sintra’s emergency department is higher than previously experienced at the Mem-Martins unit, handling about 130 to 150 patients per day, compared to the previous maximum of 90 to 100 per day at Mem-Martins [1].
The Sintra Hospital's basic emergency department is designed to handle about 60,000 emergencies per year, roughly half of the emergencies seen at Hospital Amadora-Sintra [1]. The Southern Zone Doctors' Union (SMZS) has warned that the emergency room at the new Sintra Hospital is operating "at the expense" of Amadora-Sintra's teams because no clinicians have been recruited for the recently opened unit [1].
The Fernando Fonseca Hospital, which already had severely understaffed staff, is facing further challenges as doctors are being pulled to the emergency room at Sintra Hospital. The Mem-Martins emergency department transferred five doctors to the Sintra Hospital [1].
Since January 2025, the Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) that includes both Sintra Hospital and Hospital Fernando Fonseca has hired a total of 63 new hospital doctors for hospital services, with 31 additional clinicians for primary health care [1]. The Sintra Hospital represents an investment of approximately R$81 million [1].
The Sintra Hospital offers outpatient services, outpatient consultations and exams, a mental health unit, physical rehabilitation medicine, a collection centre, and complementary diagnostic and therapeutic resources [1]. It also has an outpatient surgery unit with a surgical suite and recovery room [1].
The director of the emergency department noted that more time is needed to assess any impact on emergency department pressures at the Fernando Fonseca hospital after Sintra's opening [1]. Despite the challenges, the opening of the Sintra Hospital marks a significant reorganization and expansion of emergency care capacity in the region.
[1] Source: SMZS and Sintra Hospital officials, as reported by local media outlets.
- The Sintra Hospital, having been opened recently in Portugal, is facing difficulties in "draining patients" from the emergency rooms to the wards, leading to increased pressure on hospitals like the Fernando Fonseca Hospital.
- With an investment of approximately R$81 million, the Sintra Hospital in Portugal offers various medical services, including a mental health unit, physical rehabilitation medicine, and outpatient surgery, aiming to improve health-and-wellness and medical-conditions care in the region.
