Healthcare Equity and Commissioning: A Four-Year National Analysis of Portuguese Primary Healthcare Units.

Equal and adequate access to healthcare is one of the pillars of Portuguese health policy. Despite the controversy over commissioning processes' contribution to equity in health, this article aims to clarify the relationship between socio-economic factors and the results of primary healthcare (PHC) commissioning indicators through an analysis of four years of data from all PHC units in Portugal. The factor that presents a statistically significant relationship with a greater number of indicators is the organizational model.

Organisation of the State, model of health system and COVID-19 health outcomes in six European countries, during the first months of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.

The time and type of the States' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic varied with the severity of the epidemiological situation, the perceived risk, the political organisation and the model of health system of the country. We discuss the response of Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom during the first months of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, considering the political organisation of the country and its health system model. We analyse public health measures implemented to contain or mitigate the pandemic, as well as those related to governance, resources and reorganisation of services, financing mechanisms, response of the health system itself and health outcomes.

The effect of commissioning on Portuguese Primary Health Care units' performance: A four-year national analysis.

Background: Portugal underwent a paradigmatic Primary Health Care (PHC) reform in 2005. The reform implemented better health information systems, goal-oriented management, pay-for-performance schemes, functional autonomy for the front-line units, and the general adoption of commissioning processes. Since the implementation of the reform, the same set of indicators have been monitored nationally every year.

Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Postoperative Quality Recovery Scale (PostopQRS).

Introduction: The Postoperative Quality Recovery Scale is a brief instrument of six domains designed to assess quality of recovery from early to long term after surgery. This study aims to validate the Portuguese version of the Postoperative Quality Recovery Scale.

Material And Methods: In this observational study 101 adult patients undergoing elective surgery completed the Postoperative Quality Recovery Scale at 15 minutes and 40 minutes, one and three days after surgery.

Primary Health Care Reform in Portugal: Portuguese, modern and innovative.

The 2005 Portuguese primary health care (CSP) reform was one of the most successful reforms of the country's public services. The most relevant event was the establishment of Family Health Units (USF): voluntary and self-organized multidisciplinary teams that provide customized medical and nursing care to a group of people. Then, the remaining realms of CSP were reorganized with the establishment of Health Center Clusters (ACeS).

The health status of Portuguese healthcare professionals.

Several studies have shown that healthcare professionals are at greater risk than the rest of the population of having certain health problems due to the specificity of their workplace and the physical and psychological demands of their work. Additionally, healthcare professionals seem to behave differently when seeking health care. Several studies also indicate that the health of healthcare professionals has an impact on the performance of services and on the health of the population.

Multiple employment in the health sector in Portugal.

This paper reports on multiple employment among Portuguese health sector workers, using data obtained from six studies. The methodological aspects of these studies are briefly summarized. The prevalence among the study populations varies between 5 and 80%.

Professionals entering and leaving the Portuguese health services system.

In Portugal, the healthcare sector demand for professionals has traditionally outweighed the supply for physicians, nurses and health technicians. However, the capacity of the National Health Service, the main healthcare sector employer, to absorb new professionals is apparently decreasing, and the demand for professionals in the private sector is unclear, but it seems to be growing. With regard to physicians, demand seems to persistently exceed supply, as many physicians work in several institutions or work overtime in the public sector, and the number of foreign physicians practicing in Portugal is increasing.

The state of the health workforce in Portugal.

This paper discusses the state of the health workforce in Portugal's mainland during the past four decades. Healthcare workers represent 3.76% of the Portuguese workforce.

Dual practice in the health sector: review of the evidence.

This paper reports on income generation practices among civil servants in the health sector, with a particular emphasis on dual practice. It first approaches the subject of public-private overlap. Thereafter it focuses on coping strategies in general and then on dual practice in particular.

[Policy and management of human resources in the health care system of Portugal].

Portugal has adopted the Beveridgian model of National Health Service after the revolution of 1974. However, certain principles have been proclaimed long before that date. In particular, equity in access to and solidarity in financing of health care have been emphasized since many decades, although not yet completely implemented nowadays.

Patterns of perceptions of workplace violence in the Portuguese health care sector.

This article characterizes the problem of violence against health professionals in the workplace (VAHPITWP) in selected settings in Portugal. It addresses the questions of what types of violence are most frequent and who are the most affected health professionals.Three methodological approaches were followed: (i) documentary studies, (ii) a questionnaire-based hospital and health centre (HC) complex case study and (iii) semi-structured interviews with stakeholders.