Private hospitals call “more collaboration with the state” in Lisbon Declaration

Leading private healthcare groups in Portugal and Spain have called for closer collaboration with governments and public health systems as a way to beat demographic pressures, workforce shortages and growing demand for care across the Iberian peninsula.

The appeal was made during the 5th Iberian Private Hospitals Summit in Lisbon, where industry leaders signed the “Lisbon Declaration”, a strategic document setting out priorities for a possible future of healthcare in Portugal and Spain.

The summit, organised by the Portuguese Association of Private Hospitalisation (APHP) and the Spanish Private Healthcare Alliance (ASPE), discussed all the largely unsolved challenges, including staff shortages, digital transformation, financial sustainability and technological innovation.

The declaration highlights the fact that healthcare systems face “unprecedented demographic, technological and financial challenges”.

Thus, among their key demands, is a more stable, transparent and predictable regulatory framework ‘capable of encouraging investment and innovation’. As operators stressed, the endless ‘shortages of healthcare professionals’, administrative complexity and outdated funding and procurement models are what is typically holding healthcare in both countries back.

Solutions floated include “greater investment in training, talent retention and improved working conditions as ageing populations drive demand for healthcare services.

Digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence were also identified as ‘critical priorities’.

The declaration advocates ‘stronger complementarity’ between public and private healthcare providers, with signatories arguing that closer cooperation could help reduce waiting times, improve access to treatment and expand services in areas such as mental health, home hospitalisation and telehealth.

The document also calls on European institutions to ensure fair and non-discriminatory competition between healthcare providers – regardless of their ownership structure.

APHP, which represents 130 private healthcare units in Portugal, said the sector now accounts for around one-third of all hospital activity in the country and invested €312 million during 2025. ASPE, meantime, represents more than 850 private healthcare organisations in Spain, covering approximately 80% of the country’s hospital centres.

Source: Executive Digest

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.