Do you want to avoid those long waits in the emergency room caused by reckless political and managerial decisions that have led to increased demand and staff shortages? Just pay 150-200 euros and you’ll immediately be at the front of the line. We are not in the United States, but in Italy, where private emergency rooms are becoming more and more common. After Brescia, Milan, Bergamo, Turin, and Rome, it is now arriving in Emilia Romagna as well. Thinking badly is wrong, but often you’re right. They destroy and weaken public healthcare to make room for their friends in private healthcare? Do they want a system like the American one but with Italian salaries? Absurd. In Emilia Romagna, an unexpected resolution allows all private hospitals and clinics to open and obtain accreditation and authorization for a possible emergency room. The famous CAUs, the pride of the Region? Regional politics, honestly, seems confused, lost, healthcare professionals are still waiting for the unlocking of compensatory changes and the elimination of the exclusivity constraint. Professionals who have been waiting for months for private practice, even though there is a national law. Shameful. When Italian healthcare was centralized, we were the flagship of Europe, the world envied and admired our NHS. Since it has been in the hands of the regions, the only things that have increased are managerial positions, seats, and the salaries of all these figures, whose actual contribution is still unclear, given how much they earn. Meanwhile, those who keep the system running can’t make it to the twentieth of the month. Professionals are going into debt to survive. In 2021, according to ISTAT, healthcare spending in Italy reached €168 billion, of which €127 billion was public spending (75.6%), €36.5 billion (21.8%) was borne by families, and €4.5 billion (2.7%) was covered by health funds and insurance. According to the CREA Sanità Report, also in 2021, private spending averaged €1,734 per household, or 5.7% of total consumption. In 2020, over 600,000 families had to bear very heavy expenses, 380,000 families became impoverished due to healthcare expenses. Let’s say that regional policies have shifted the burden onto families. Shameful. We hope for a return to the past, healthcare no longer in the hands of the regions. Let’s remember that Italian public healthcare spending is 40% lower than that of the 14 Western European countries. It’s time for healthcare professionals to join the Nursing Up union, each of us in our own small way must stand up to defend the NHS for our own good and that of the Italian population. LapaginadiNursingUp Vincenzo Parisi
