The Ministry of Health and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation are other institutions that occasionally fund medical research in Portugal. Following Portugal's joining the European Union in 1985, special funds for building a limited number of research institutions in Portugal became available. Following an open competition among Portuguese research groups, funds for a multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to research in the visual sciences resulted in the creation of the Institute of Biomedical Research on Light and Imaging in 1994 in Coimbra. Clinical ophthalmology in Portugal includes primary, secondary, and tertiary care with all subspecialties being represented. Most eye surgery is done in National Health Service Hospitals and in a few private surgery centers.
Refractive surgery is performed predominantly in private centers.
All eye care services are available through the National Health Service. Funding limitations in the National Health Service result in long waiting lists for elective surgery and specialized investigations. In the National Health Service, the waiting time to see an ophthalmologist after a referral from a family practitioner varies, but in specially qualified centers, the demand is such that the waiting time for a general consultation may be more than 3 months. This situation leads to an abuse of utilization of the emergency services. However, special programs to facilitate access to ophthalmological care have been created for diabetic patients and glaucoma suspects.