Audit of official pregnancy termination facilities in Portugal: accuracy and update mechanisms

Access to pregnancy termination in Portugal relies on an up-to-date registry of official and officially recognised facilities published by the Directorate-General of Health. Inaccurate or outdated information may delay care and exacerbate inequities, especially for women in peripheral regions or with limited digital literacy. The 2024 official facility list was audited through a structured survey sent to all listed establishments and corresponding Local Health Units to collect operational information. Publicly available data were compared with survey responses to assess accuracy, completeness, compliance with legal update requirements and the functioning of communication and update mechanisms. Audit criteria were grouped into compliance and completeness domains, with a global compliance threshold of 75%. Global compliance was 66.7%, below the predefined threshold. Completeness of basic information was high (about 96%), but important discrepancies were found in contact details, opening hours, service characteristics and identification of institutional focal points. No facility complied with mandated timelines for updating information, and no systematic, standardised process existed to trigger or validate updates. These gaps create barriers to timely access, generate confusion for users and providers and hinder service planning. Many facilities reported the need for an interactive digital update form and favoured decentralised data maintenance with central validation. The audit highlights structural weaknesses in the governance of Portugal’s pregnancy termination facility registry. A secure online platform for real-time updates, automated biannual reminders and a designated national contact point for oversight are needed to improve data reliability and accessibility, supporting equitable, safe and timely pregnancy termination services nationwide.

Key messages

• Outdated and inconsistently updated facility lists can delay access to pregnancy termination care and worsen territorial and informational inequities.

• A secure digital update platform with regular reminders and central validation is needed to keep facility information accurate, accessible and usable.