Public Hospital doctor under investigation for €400K windfall
As authorities probe deeper into this case, it could expose wider systemic flaws in how public funds are managed within Portugal’s overstretched health system.
Portugal’s Public Prosecutor has launched a formal investigation into a growing scandal involving a dermatologist at Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, the largest in the country.
He allegedly earned €400,000 for just 10 days of work, all on Saturdays, under a government program designed to reduce surgical wait times.
The inquiry, now underway at Lisbon’s Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DIAP), follows reporting by CNN Portugal and TVI.
The excessive payments were made through the SIGIC (Integrated Management System for Surgery Scheduling), a scheme intended to incentivize additional surgical activity outside of regular hours to alleviate long waiting lists in the National Health Service (SNS).
The dermatologist under investigation, Miguel Alpalhão, reportedly earned €51,000 in a single day and even performed procedures on his own parents.
Alongside Alpalhão, three other healthcare professionals, two resident doctors and a nurse, received a combined total of €850,000 in less than a year for similar weekend surgeries.
The Inspectorate-General of Health Activities (IGAS) has also announced a national audit into Saturday surgeries at public hospitals across the country.
It will start with a deep review of dermatological procedures and financial practices at Santa Maria Hospital dating back to 2021.
Health Minister Ana Paula Martins publicly criticized the revelations on Monday, warning that the case undermines public confidence in the healthcare system.
“Until the facts are fully investigated, this casts a shadow of suspicion over the institution, especially for patients still waiting for surgery or consultations.”
Santa Maria Hospital’s president, Carlos Martins, initially expressed shock and called the figures “completely unacceptable” if confirmed.
However, CNN Portugal reported that the hospital board had in fact been aware of the unusually high earnings since November 2024.
Records show the hospital administration even suspended additional Saturday surgeries in dermatology on November 15, a move that now raises further questions about transparency and oversight.
Yesterday's Publico had a couple good articles / interviews about this issue. There are laws about the waiting period for treatments that are *supposed* to be enforced, and an interviewee discussed the need to calibrate production of output during normal working hours and extra sessions. The recourse to private hospitals in overflow is much more expensive than the overtime.
Probably this is an issue that expats need to pay close attention to over any other, since so many are older/retired. When you get ill your faculties and capacity for researching options and cobbling a treatment strategy will be impaired. And Medicare back home in the US, well...
This is an opportunity for the government to show it can hold those who commit fraud (especially with tax payer money) accountable. Not just the individual but those in charge of the hospital as well. Hold their feet to the fire.