Information on healthcare in Portugal

Hi Kate

You shouldn't have a problem speaking to doctors in English. Most doctors in Portugal can speak English to some degree. As for public hospitals vs private, have a look at our Healthcare in Portugal page for detailed information.

There are no restrictions on bringing medicine into Portugal as long as you have the proper documentation and prescription proving that you need the medicine and that it's for personal use only.

I hope this helps.

Good luck with your move to Portugal.

Hi Kate, Not all doctors at your local centre de suade will or can speak English. I know, I've experienced one very nasty individual, where a doctor wouldn't speak English and was shouting at me in Portuguese while thumping the desk. He reduced me to tears. My experience of this doctor was not alone. HE left and they replaced him with a Spanish lady, who did not speak a word of English an hour with her trying to explain my problem and we were still no further forward and she had to get the receptionist in to translate. Making an appointment sometimes is virtually impossible and we always get the standard response. 3 weeks which when they sacked all the doctors at the centre de saude and were left with one that went up to five weeks. It really depends on where you are moving to. Specialist care can be hard to find in the Algarve, like Dermitologists and Rhumatolagists (sorry cant spell) for example - even privately. The healthcare in Portugal USED to be good but since many Austerity measures have been introduced to drastically cut costs over the last few years it has gone hill RAPIDO. Now this said, it really does depend where you are moving to, as like the UK quality of care does vary. Others may not have experienced problems, but I can only speak through my experience and those around me. Rules re healthcare have changed I understand and you will need to check that if you are not pensionable age whether you would qaulify and for how long. I'm not saying you don't but please check the terms of recipriocal healthcare. Medicines are expensive here even if you do qualify for healthcare and discount on your prescriptions. Life saving drugs receive greater discount but are still very expensive compared to the UK. We had to take out private medical cover when we applied for residency. We kept this going and to be honest am glad we did. Which area are you moving to?