More Portuguese without GPs than when Socialists took control

After all the fine promises of incoming PS Socialists in 2015, the country now has LESS citizens covered by a family doctor than it did when the party pledged to improve things. According to SIC today, there are now over 1.3 million Portuguese with a GP (and many of those that have one have never managed to make an appointment). This year, another 1,000 doctors are coming up for retirement, while intake is unlikely to see more than 350 replacements. As the station explains, 400-500 GPs are trained every year, but only 60% to 70% take up work within the SNS health system. When PS Socialists came in, vowing to ensure families were covered by GPs, only just over a million citizens were without a family doctor.