The Portuguese Healthcare Regulation Authority (Entidade Reguladora da Saúde – ERS) announced this week to the media information about the complaints made by NHS users in 2018. Several newspapers reproduced that information, saying that Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (HBA) was the second public hospital in the country with the largest number of complaints, which, however, isn’t true. HBA didn’t receive 3116 complaints in 2018, as indicated by the ERS, but 1996. One third less than the number indicated in the Portuguese Healthcare Regulation Authority report. That value includes complaints from the previous four years, which could only be answered in 2018. This means that Hospital Beatriz Ângelo wasn’t the second hospital in the country with more complaints in 2018. According to the ERS tables, six other public hospitals received more complaints last year than the HBA. Since 2018 all complaints received at Hospital Beatriz Ângelo are being answered within the stipulated 10 day period.
