Marta Temido said that despite the "enormous respect everyone" has for the right to protest and for the right to strike, "extreme positions" affected patients of public services.

Nurses are set to go on strike between 2 and 30 April according to a warning released on Wednesday by the nurses' trade union Sindepor.

Last Friday, thousands of nurses from around Portugal staged a protest against poor working conditions.

The protest took place following a strike in operating theatres and after the cabinet on 7 February took the controversial move of imposing a civil requisition of nurses who had been striking since 31 January in operating theatres at four major state hospitals, alleging that they were failing to comply with rules on skeleton services.

The main points of contention in the strike are the unfreezing of career progressions and nurses’ basic salary.