Something is seriously wrong at Lisbon's children's hospital

The senior doctors who lead the emergency room at one of Lisbon's main children's hospitals have stepped down from those roles in protest. It's Sunday, 6 September. Thirty-one degrees. Air quality: 55 (Moderate). Here's what you need to know.

🗞️ NINE PAEDIATRIC EMERGENCY CHIEFS RESIGN AT DONA ESTEFÂNIA

All nine team coordinators of the paediatric emergency department at Hospital Dona Estefânia, Lisbon's main children's hospital, have resigned from their leadership roles. They sent their resignation letter to the hospital board on Thursday evening, and the local health authority, ULS São José, confirmed it on Friday.

The resignations are from the coordination and management roles only. The doctors have not walked out on patients, and the emergency department continues to function. But it is a pointed act of protest from the people who run the service, and the reason they give is serious: a shortage of anaesthetists that is preventing surgeries from going ahead and, in their words, compromising clinical safety.

The doctors say they acted only after repeated warnings to the Health Ministry went unanswered. That claim carries weight because the minister has already conceded the problem. In late August, Health Minister Ana Paula Martins publicly admitted a shortage of anaesthetists at ULS São José and elsewhere, saying it was "a bit all over the country, but everything is felt more in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region." She attributed the summer crunch to doctors taking holidays and a recognised national scarcity of anaesthetists.

The problem is not confined to Dona Estefânia. According to RTP, the Maternidade Alfredo da Costa, another major Lisbon maternity and paediatric unit, is currently down to just two anaesthetists. Joana Bordalo de Sá, president of the National Federation of Doctors, called it "absolutely unacceptable that any institution reaches this point" and said the Health Minister must take responsibility and explain publicly why it is happening.

The hospital board says it has been following the situation closely, keeping "a close and permanent dialogue" with the teams, and is taking steps to reinforce the anaesthesiology service. But the resignations lay bare a structural problem that money and dialogue have not yet fixed: Portugal does not have enough anaesthetists, and the shortage is now hitting the point of care, in the one place, a children's emergency room, where nobody wants to see it.

For anyone in Lisbon with young children, this does not mean the emergency department is closed or unsafe to use in a crisis. It means the people who run it are warning, loudly and formally, that the system around them is under strain. If your child needs emergency care, Dona Estefânia is still there. But this is the clearest signal yet of how thin the staffing has become.

Bottom line: nine doctors have given up running Lisbon's children's emergency department in protest at a staffing shortage the government has already admitted. The care continues, but the warning could not be plainer.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Portugal's credit rating just hit its highest level since before the bailout. Fitch, one of the three big global credit rating agencies, has upgraded Portugal from A to A+ with a stable outlook, citing stronger public finances, falling debt and budget discipline it called "considerably stronger" than comparable countries. It is the first time Portugal has held an A+ from Fitch since March 2011. In plain terms, a higher rating means the government can borrow more cheaply, which frees up money in the national budget. Public debt is forecast to fall from 89.7% of GDP in 2025 to 87% this year. But Fitch added a caveat that will land with anyone house-hunting here: it flagged housing affordability as a growing risk, noting Portuguese house prices are now around 99% above their end-2019 level, against just 31% across the eurozone.

Fuel prices are about to hit a record high. For the week of 7 to 13 September, the Automóvel Club de Portugal forecasts diesel rising 15 cents to around €2.17 a litre and petrol up 12 cents to around €2.14. Both would be all-time highs, and the diesel jump is one of the sharpest single-week increases on record. The rise is driven by higher crude oil prices, and the figures are a forecast that could still shift by Monday. If you can fill up before the new week, it is worth doing.

Night flights over Lisbon are breaking the legal limits. New data shows the number of flights over the city between midnight and 6am has exceeded the legal cap, renewing complaints about aircraft noise for residents living under the flight paths. Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport sits unusually close to the city centre, and night-time movements are legally restricted to protect residents' sleep. Campaigners have long argued the limits are poorly enforced. The issue adds to a difficult run for the airport, already ranked Europe's most stressful, and strengthens the case for the new Alcochete airport, which is not due to open until 2035.

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

PITADA BITES (AVENIDA DA LIBERDADE)

Pitada Bites is a small, family-run Portuguese restaurant a short walk from Avenida da Liberdade, and it does the honest, unfussy home cooking that is getting harder to find in the centre of Lisbon without a tourist mark-up. The name means "a pinch," as in a pinch of seasoning, and the cooking has that feel: traditional Portuguese dishes made properly, with a little modern licence.

The heart of the menu is Portuguese comfort food. There is the prego, the classic garlicky steak in a bun, the bitoque, steak topped with a fried egg, and a whole section of homemade burgers that the kitchen clearly takes seriously. Fish and a few salads round it out, and the homemade desserts get singled out in review after review.

It is the sort of place where the person who cooked your food is also the one who asks whether you enjoyed it, and customers keep calling it a hidden gem where locals, not tour groups, fill the tables. Central, casual and good value, a rare trio this close to the Avenida. Hours can shift, so it is worth checking before making a special trip.

→ Find them here ←

Insider tip: leave room for dessert. The apple tart is a favourite of regulars, so ask if there’s any left that day and save space for it.

📅 WHAT'S ON

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