There isn’t much point in going to A&E - there are no doctors. I amputated my fingertip (halfway up the final joint, with a blunt instrument - crushed the thing off) a week ago and was told to go home and use glue and tape to close the wound, and to throw away the tip. I’ve been dunking it in meths to sterilise and dry it.

They literally did nothing. Contrast to Latvia where I bisected my thumb with an axe and they put it back together about 20 minutes later and charged me €9.

I also have a 8 week old child - zero checkups, no vaccination appointments available, no doctors appointments available. No follow ups for my wife after birth. Oh, and we had to do it all at home, as there is no space in hospital for childbirth - the beds are all full of people who should be in old people’s homes, but there are no spaces in homes for them to move to.

I am ridiculously glad to be back in Portugal as of today, and tomorrow I will take her to the village clinic, where she will finally have a medical inspection.