Henrique Fernandes is accused of abuse of power by letting more than 1,600 of his private clients skip ahead on the waiting list at the public hospital in Guarda. The clinician does not deny the accusations and says he will maintain the procedure.
An ophthalmologist will be tried for abuse of power for, between 2020 and 2024, allegedly leaving more than 1600 users of private clinics skipping the queues at the ophthalmology service at Hospital Sousa Martins, in Guarda, to the detriment of thousands of patients waiting in the National Health Service.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses Henry Fernandesaged 65, of using his position at the public hospital to drastically shorten deadlines care for patients who sought him out in the private sector.
According to the complaint, users who paid between 60 and 80 euros By consulting the private clinics where the doctor worked, they could get an appointment at the public hospital in about a month, while the others waited up to a year for a first appointment. The Public Ministry maintains that the doctor practically did not observe the patients waiting in the SUS queue, says the .
The case was formally brought to trial after, in September 2025, the defendant was accused of abuse of power. Despite having requested that an investigation be opened, the criminal investigation judge at Guarda decided, this month, to confirm the trial, considering there was strong evidence of the crime being committed.
The judge identifies three main motivations for the alleged abuse of power: economic interest, with the doctor earn more than 50 thousand euros gross in private consultations in 2024, conflicts with successive hospital administrations and the ambition of heading the ophthalmology service in Guarda.
In response to , the ophthalmologist does not deny the accusations and states that his conflict with hospital administrations began more than 20 years ago, when he himself paid equipment worth 50 thousand euros and thus ended “the arguments that the Government had to close the ophthalmology service” at Guarda.
“When a doctor invests, out of his own pocket, thousands of reais in equipment in a public hospital, causes heartburn in vested interests. I look forward to the moment when I will, once again, destroy the system’s accusations”, he says.
Henrique Fernandes also says that he will continue with the same procedure. “I continue working in the same way and will continue to do so until the Guarda Local Health Unit begins to comply with the law”, he says.
