Enpam – Eurispes. The Health Thermometer 1st Report on the Health System (2017)

The research carried out by Eurispes and Enpam, under the aegis of the Observatory on Health, Welfare and Legality, offers a vision that is far removed from the widespread idea of a public health system that is in a state of collapse and cannot be reformed. Suffice it to say that international data show that health is acceptably guaranteed in Italy, despite the anomalies and imbalances that affect its overall image.

The Report mainly analysed the health system from the citizens/patients’ point of view, but without concealing the more general issues of public accounts compatibility.

Among the many contradictions and critical points, the Report highlighted the issue of temporary employment and the inadequate number of staff, as well as the significant ageing of the healthcare workforce, which in some areas risks creating unbridgeable gaps in the near future, especially in general medicine (general practitioners and freely chosen paediatricians).

The hospital services absorb 44.4% of the workforce, 18% of which is employed in jobs not related to the health professions. This figure suggests the level of bureaucratisation of the healthcare machine, with a high percentage of mainly administrative staff being absorbed for its operation. At the same time, in the Regions subject to the Deficit Recovery Plans, there is increasing resort to precarious employment to make up for the lack of staff caused by the lack of turnover.

The issues of money wasting and the various areas of corruption, which are analysed in depth in the Report and whose seriousness is there for all to see, are not specific to Italy either. In fact, the statistics that are drawn up by international organisations (OECD and EU) place Italy within the average range for the spread of bad practices and illegality.