"It needs two signatures and one joint order (...). This year there is a greater delay because the process is at the Ministry of Finance waiting to be completed," Adalberto Campos Fernandes told reporters on the sidelines of the signing of a joint project between the Ministry of Health and the La Caixa banking foundation on palliative care.

On Thursday, members of the Medical Association will accompany a group of hospital experts to the Portuguese Parliament to deliver a letter challenging the fact that 700 professionals have been waiting for many months for positions to be opened up.

The head of the Medical Association, Miguel Guimarães, said the delay in opening up vacancies for the 710 medical specialists who completed their training about 10 months ago was a "shame and a national drama."