Just as a matter of interest ...
It is my understanding that the health service in Portugal is excellent. I've just checked it out and have found that in 2017 ...
Snip
5. Portugal. With a small population of about 10 million people, Portugal's healthcare system is ranked the 9th best in Europe and 12th in the world. The Portuguese, who are among the world's healthiest people, have one of the highest life expectancies in the European Union.6 Apr 2017
https://today.mims.com/5-countries-ranked-the-best-for-high-quality-healthcare ... which to my way of thinking makes it pretty good.
I'm not asking for the simple reason it is none of my business ... I'm wondering ... if the treatment your wife receives is unavailable in Portugal or does she prefer the journey home to England because she is more comfortable being in an environment where she will not experience a language barrier?
My apologies for being tardy. I was knackered when I first read it, and I considered it was prudent to go to sleep and return to your question later.
Everyone in Portugal gets a mandatory training in English of 8 years at school. Then they can choose an alternative language if they wish, though most stick to learning English.
Nurses and emergency medical staff get further training in English. I presume this covers learning medical jargon.
There are some front desk staff in Portuguese health centres who will tell you unless you speak Portuguese, you won't be served. The likely reason for this is as follows. Some years ago, when Portugal 'went broke', the rescuers imposed tighter financial constraints. One of those was a change to get many people off social benefits and into work, typically on minimum wages. Among those, there is a resentment that 'rich' foreigners are getting treatment at Portugal's expense.
Oddly enough, that attitude exists elsewhere. My wife frequented a particular café, and over the period put a fair bit of money in the till. And she tips generously. One day the old lady who owns the cafe came out to serve. She was too old to have gone through the compulsory 8 years English at school. My wife requested, very civilly, her son, who speaks high quality English. The old lady refused, and insisted my wife must speak in Portuguese. It was an odd attitude, because that café was popular with French and German patrons. My wife got up and left, found an alternative cafe, and has never been back since.
Moving on to my wife's medical condition, I have very limited personal experience of whatever equivalent there is to the NHS, thank goodness. But as my wife's condition got progressively more painful, we did a bit of research on the options.
It seems there is a centre in Faro that does this type of surgery, but it is rated as so-so. The go to option is a man in Lisbon, who is rated as world class. That would mean being stuck alone for about a week. The alternative was back in Inglaterra, with a high quality surgeon, and it is very close to one branch of her family, and his children. So she picked that option.
Just to head any potential Indians off at the pass, it is being done on private insurance, not the NHS.
