Hospitals: the consultation table between the Ministry of Health and FoSSC is underway

Collaborate closely to ensure the application of the Pnrr, the drafting of a reform of the reference Ministerial Decrees (DM70 and 77) and the adaptation of our country to the new European regulations on the conduct of clinical trials. With these objectives, the Permanent Consultation Table was set up between the Ministry of Health and FoSSC (Forum of the Scientific Societies of Italian Hospital and University Clinics). The decision was made after a meeting between the Minister of Health, Horace Schillaciand a delegation from the FoSSC Forum.

Working for better healthcare

During the meeting between the Minister of Health and the FoSSC Forum delegation, a substantial agreement was verified in the analysis on the current difficulties of the National Health Service and on the initiatives and proposals for improvement and future prospects. “We are satisfied with the result achieved and we thank the Minister for the attention he has given us,” he said Francesco Cognetti, coordinator of FoSSC. As representatives of the clinical world, we are deeply concerned about the current crisis of the National Health Service and the future prospects of health care in our country. Our Forum was born with this purpose: to bring together the most important Italian Scientific Societies to finally start a lasting dialogue between specialists on the major issues concerning health and, above all, the hospitals of our country. For this reason, we have guaranteed the Minister our fullest and most effective collaboration”.

Redefining the relationship between hospital and territory

FoSSC experts also consider the redefinition of the relationship between hospital and territory to be fundamental in this particular historical moment. “It is a dichotomy that has divided our national health system in two for too many years and which generates great difficulties for millions of citizens”, continue the FoSSC experts. The provisions of the Pnrr on territorial structures, taken on by the previous Government without the consultation of Italian clinicians, are however very difficult to implement and also lack organizational models and definitions of competence and roles for carrying out clinical assistance activities and do not provide any indication on the integration between hospitals and local medicine in assisting the chronically ill. Therefore, they do not solve all these problems and the time has come to hear the voice of the experts as well”.

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Resolve emergencies

There is no doubt that adequate and timely interventions are needed to resolve a structural crisis that we have been dragging on for too many years. “We have a series of initiatives and proposals to put forward to solve problems such as the lack of hospital beds, the modernization of hospitals, the emergency department crisis resulting from the profoundly critical situation of the hospitals themselves, the terrible shortage of specialist doctors and nurses , but decisive investment interventions in medical disciplines are also necessary together with a higher consideration of the strategic value of the professional element from a scientific, organizational and operational point of view”.

Few funds for health care

Also worrying is the scarcity of resources allocated to Healthcare both in the DEF 2023 – 2025 and in the budget law proposal for 2023 with additional resources that will be completely used to offset the increases in expensive energy and inflation and will make us return at levels of health expenditure as a percentage of GDP that are even lower than in the pre-pandemic era (6.3% compared to an average of 8.8% for the 37 OECD countries, including France and Germany with around 10%). Inevitably, in a situation such as the current one, the contribution to health care expenditure of private citizens will grow further, which already last year reached the figure of no less than 37 billion euros, already a noticeable increase compared to the 8-12 billion of the 10 years previous.

The meeting at the Ministry was attended by FoSSC, representing the 30 member scientific societies, in addition to the Coordinator Francesco Cognetti: Paul Corradini (President of the Italian Hematology Society), Fabio De Iaco (President of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine), Diego Foschi (President of the Italian College of Surgeons), Dario Manfellotto (President of the Federation of Internal Hospital Managers Associations), Francis Romeo (President of the Italian Heart and Circulation Foundation), John Swap (President of the Italian University Gynecological Association) e Ivan Cavicchi (Professor of Sociology and Health Organization and Philosophy of Medicine).