Investment by Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS) grew 96.1%, reaching 242.4 million euros in November, “breaking historical records,” the country’s ministry of finance revealed earlier this week.
“Investment in the NHS has never been so high,” the ministry said in a statement in anticipation of the budget execution summary that will be published on 29 December, Lusa news agency reported.
Public spending until November “accelerated and grew 6%”, the ministry of health added. The response to the pandemic contributed to the increase in spending, the ministry explained.
Personnel expenses grew by 5.9%, an additional 237 million, due to “the very significant increase in the number of health professionals to respond to the pandemic”.
“This 5.9% is equivalent to 7,893 more SNS workers when compared to November 2019”, the ministry of finance said.
