When travelling abroad temporarily, as a U.K. resident you can apply for a free health card, details below on the NHS link. You must bring the card with you to access the national health care in Portugal or private health care provider (subject to their terms and conditions), the health card does not replace all the benefits of Health Travel Insurance.
http://www.nhs.uk/…/Healthca…/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

Should you be thinking of living in Portugal, there are some health care options for Expats planning a more permanent stay in Portugal.

Portugal does offer a national health care system, though it isn't exactly free and does not include the dentist and some other usual free health care services you might expect to receive in the UK. To access the national health care system as a resident in Portugal, you will have to register with your local council to receive a health care number and afterwards register with a local doctor and there is no guarantee they will speak English. You will need to meet the requirements to access the national health care system.

If you are looking for quicker treatments with a higher chance of being able to speak English, there are some other options through private health care.

Our local private hospital in Loule, for example, do offer a 24 hour walk-in service for anyone requiring health care and there are similar hospitals around the Algarve and Portugal.  You can find details of their services on their website. http://www.hospitaldeloule.com/. Hospital de Loulé

Loule private hospital also offer the option of signing up for their Excellence Card where, with a monthly subscription fee each year, they offer discounts on services and other benefits. We have a copy of their full terms and conditions available in English, upon request.

There are also a selection of private health care insurance companies you can choose from, here are some of them for you to research-

http://www.future-healthcare.pt/ 

They may also offer options available to consider for dental insurance and pet insurance, with some offered from your Portuguese Bank.

It is best to shop around for the service and fee that suits your needs, the cheapest policy may not cover areas or the discount you want included, read their small print.

If you need help with reading or signing up for the Portuguese policies or are interested in how to get discounts on purchasing insurance, we can take care of everything for you as a client purchasing one of our properties or upon instructing our Property Management Services at Diamond Properties Algarve.com.

You may also be interested in reading how the World Health Organisation rank the health care system in Portugal.

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We are happy to help. Stay well.

Last updated 6/5/2017