en 
In an interview with CNN Portugal, Beleza recalled that this is a problem that has existed "since I was a medical student".
"We are experiencing a situation like this peak of influenza A, in Spain too. We have had a problem in Portugal, since the 1990s", he continued, arguing that "too many people go to the emergency room", with "80% to 90% of the people who go there don't need to go to the hospital".
Álvaro Beleza then considered that it was "a cultural issue", which "has to be resolved over time", and which "cannot be resolved overnight". The doctor also argued that this is a problem related to people's "literacy" and "education".
Álvaro Beleza wanted to talk about the example of Spain, where "there is a spike in flu". "If you go to report to any emergency service in Madrid, there aren't as many people as in Lisbon", and "they have the same flu peak". Why? Because "people are used to going to their doctor, to their pharmacy because they are used to self-medicating because we are talking about a simple issue".
He added that the emergency room and the hospital "are for acute situations". "And for these, the hospitals, the SNS responds".
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Português (Brasil)
Nobody spends a whole night waiting in a hospital for fun, so I guess many people just don't have other options. In Belgium, I would always have checked with a local family doctor, before bringing a sick child to the ER. Here in Portugal, on Sundays or at night, the ER is the only place I'll find a doctor, so that's where I go. That's the public hospital, because the private hospital doesn't have a paediatrician on call at night, and their GP refuses to check on young children... The advice I got from local parents, is to first check how busy the paediatric hospital is, and if it seems too crowded, do the 90 minutes drive to Porto, which has the nearest by private hospital that will accept young children at night...
By Dan from Other on 29 Dec 2023, 11:20
I went to see my doctor last week at 18h. She wasn’t there and I wasn’t notified. I was rescheduled for January 3. Yesterday, I received a message that my appointment was changed to January 19. I wonder if this in part explains why people go to the hospital. They have no practical alternative.
By Phil Weingrow from Lisbon on 29 Dec 2023, 11:58
Perhaps there would be fewer visits to the ER if there were sufficient numbers of doctors available for clinic visits/consults. I don’t know if it’s a compensation issue or what it is, but it needs to be addressed for people to feel like they don’t have to go to an Er to get timely help.
By Edie Blakley from Lisbon on 29 Dec 2023, 12:28
I am not sure that the doctor actually understands the situation regarding access to GP. It is the lack of GP doctors that drives people to hospital as that is only place they can garantee seeing a doctor. This is not just Portugal but other countries in the eu, uk, usa.
So as to better news reporting please ask good questions when interviewing people to get the truth and not just an opinion.
By W brown from Lisbon on 29 Dec 2023, 17:05
its often impossible to get an appointment in centro de saude,you cannot come the 27.9. to ask for an appointment in october,you have to come back in october to ask for appointment. and you can even not call to get an appointment,but must wait sometimes hours to can ask for one... when i felt bad,i also went to hospital,who checked me and send me to centre de saude with the first analyses to go further.with this document i got appointment some days after,but without was impossible. its incredible that in online times,you can even not get appointment by phone...
By Bernd Koch from Algarve on 29 Dec 2023, 20:12