Lisbon, June 2, 2026 (Lusa) - The number of inappropriate hospital admissions has worsened since March, the Portuguese Association of Hospital Administrators (APAH) announced on Tuesday, calling for urgent action on the ground and a strengthening of home care teams.
“Over the last two months, the situation regarding inappropriate admissions has worsened, and the 2,800 [beds occupied unduly] that we estimated in March is now significantly higher.
This is not normal, as we would usually see a reduction in the summer, which is not happening,” said Xavier Barreto, president of APAH, speaking during a hearing before the parliamentary health committee.
APAH’s latest Social Hospitalisation Barometer, published in March, recorded 2,807 (+19%) people still in hospitals despite having been medically discharged, a situation costing the state over €350 million.
At today’s hearing, at the Socialist Party's request, Xavier Barreto said the figure is underestimated, as it accounts only for direct costs and is based on an outdated price list: “The actual cost will be considerably higher.”
Given the evolving situation, Xavier Barreto highlighted the urgent need for on-the-ground responses, particularly in the home, and for strengthening home-based long-term care teams.
He advocated a change in the model for providing this care, shifting it more towards the home and involving more informal carers.
"These steps must be supported by more investment and more resources. We won’t get there with what we have now,” he said.
Xavier Barreto added that the response model for these cases should move towards partnerships with local authorities, adding: “Perhaps then the response would be quicker. (...) The leaders of the parish councils know who the people are [and what they need]”.
He admitted that coordination by a single body could help and pointed out that, at present, it is the health sector that is solving a problem that does not strictly fall within its remit: “Hospitals are a safety valve for a system that is dysfunctional and failing due to Social Security. The problem lies more with Social Security (...), but the solution lies more with Health”.
In recent decades, he said, “we have come from a very Latin model, where there was great solidarity between generations (…), people looked after one another, and families were very large, with three generations living under the same roof. That is over.”
Xavier Barreto rejected the notion that there is a problem of neglecting the elderly, speaking instead of families who are at a loss because they face the possibility of having to say goodbye and go home to look after their parents, as they cannot afford a care home.
“We are faced with cases of people who have no alternative, in the majority of cases. I refuse to accept that we have systematic neglect of people in hospitals. We do not. We have many cases of people who cannot afford a care home,” he said, emphasising the need to review the situation of informal carers.
He said that estimates put the number of informal carers in the country at 200,000, of whom 20,000 have recognised status, but only around 8,000 receive support, amounting to a maximum of €590.
“But can anyone stop working, pay their bills and look after their parents on €500 in support?” he asked.
Advocating a reformulation of the care model with a greater focus on home care teams, as well as the widespread introduction of incentives for these teams, Xavier Barreto pointed out that, even so, “it would be much cheaper” than having these people unduly hospitalised.
He emphasised the need for a more home-centred care model, noting that, in Portugal, estimates suggest that only 2% of people aged over 65 receive long-term care (12% in the OECD). Of these, 34% receive home care, a figure well below the OECD average of 72% or Spain’s 83%.
SO/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
