Data center outage leaves Portugal's National Health Service without prescriptions

A power outage at SPMS's data center in northern Portugal on October 19 knocked out the National User Registry, the Electronic Medical Prescription (PEM) system and access to electronic health records nationwide. The disruption began around 10am and most services were restored by 3pm. SPMS plans a new redundant infrastructure by the end of 2026.

• Outage hit the user registry, PEM prescriptions and electronic health records
• Failure began around 10am and services were restored by 3pm
• SPMS promises real-time redundancy by the end of 2026
• FNAM demands clarity on causes and compensation for lost work