In recent years, the ratio between public spending and gross domestic product has collapsed, with serious repercussions on healthcare. In the three-year period 2024-2026, healthcare spending will increase by just 1.1%, a percentage insufficient to guarantee the stability of the National Health Service (SSN). Among the main causes of this crisis are constant public defunding, ineffective State-Region governance, and the unheard suffering of healthcare professionals, who for decades have worked in critical conditions to compensate for the wrong choices of a short-sighted political leadership. Public healthcare is at its limit, weakened by the exodus of healthcare personnel, professional demotivation, and the growing influence of private healthcare. Factors such as the energy crisis, inflation, unrealistic expectations of citizens, and the reduction of public funds contribute to pushing the SSN towards collapse. The data speaks for itself: between 2021 and 2022, over 15,000 nurses left public healthcare. If the current trend is not reversed, by 2030 resignations will exceed 40,000, leading to the closure of at least another 44 hospitals. This would mean the loss of over 6,278 hospital beds, with the real risk of exceeding 130 closed hospitals and irreparably compromising access to care. If immediate action is not taken, in 2030 we will have half the hospitals compared to 2010. The SSN is collapsing, while politics stands by and watches. A Shameful Contract and a Blocked System The problem is not just the contract, which represents an insult to healthcare professionals: Salaries do not reflect the value of our work. Career progression is reserved for a select few. Most nurses are excluded from the highest contractual area. Mobility remains a mirage. The exclusivity allowance is reserved for doctors only. Meal vouchers are considered a privilege, instead of a right. The nursing profession, despite the high number of injuries and cases of burnout, is still not recognized as strenuous. The Role of Nursing Up: An Unceasing Struggle Since 2021, Nursing Up has organized 22 demonstrations throughout Italy, obtaining the nursing allowance and more resources for healthcare professionals. We have brought our demands to the Prefects and Regional Presidents, asking them to support the cause with the Government. While other unions, such as Cisl, Fials, and Nursind, limited themselves to appearing in front of cameras without achieving concrete results, we continued to fight, even in media silence. The Call to Action We must ask for what is right: 2,500 euros minimum salary, an amount that reflects the value of an intellectual profession and represents the minimum of the OECD average. We are not asking for privileges, but simply what we are owed. To achieve this goal, the category must unite under a single strong union. We must give 51% of the votes to Nursing Up, in order to finally influence political and contractual choices. We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Join Us If you work in Emilia-Romagna as a healthcare professional, contact us: WhatsApp or Telegram: 3401210916 Email: lapaginadinursingup@yahoo.com Whether you want to be an activist, RSU candidate, or simply a member, we need you. The time is now. No more divisions. No more compromises. Let's team up, united, like one big family.
