“This achievement is particularly significant as it was reached in a low-density border region traditionally characterised by challenges in retaining healthcare professionals, geographical dispersion, and an ageing population,” the ULS emphasised in a statement.

When asked by Lusa, a ULS source stated that there are “82 general and family medicine doctors with assigned patient lists” for the 126,080 registered patients.

On average, each family health team serves 1,550 patients.

“100% coverage by family health teams implies a functional balance within the teams,” the source assured, adding that the unit “meets the Guaranteed Maximum Response Times (TMRG) for patient-initiated primary care consultations, keeping them under 15 days, and this timeframe is reduced to five days for Family Health Units (USF).”

In addition to the 82 doctors with assigned lists, the unit also relies on “general and family medicine doctors, either under service provision arrangements or post-retirement contracts, to provide supplementary care for acute illnesses and services for sporadic patients or those without NHS status.”

Regarding the waiting time for assigning a family doctor to a new patient, the unit assured that “there is room for growth, so the assignment of a family doctor is swift once legal requirements are met.”

However, he noted, “there are other functional units within primary care and in close integration with hospital care (community care units, palliative care units, among others) where more general and family medicine practitioners may be needed, and where, as a result of the National Health Service reorganisation, there may be potential to attract new doctors.”

The ULS do Nordeste (ULSNE) comprises three hospital units and 14 health centres serving the population of the Bragança district. It was established in 2011 to encompass the health units of the former Northeast Hospital Centre and the former Alto Trás-os-Montes I – Northeast Health Centre Group.

In the clinical sphere, it operates across primary care, hospital care (in Bragança, Macedo de Cavaleiros, and Mirandela), urgent and emergency care, intensive care, palliative care, and public health.