We are second in Europe for the number of doctors, but we drop to tenth place if we consider only family doctors, the first reference point of public health for citizens. And the mirror of a territorial medicine that struggles are the perpetually overcrowded emergency rooms, a problem to deal with which the Ministry of Health has just set up an ad hoc table. According to the latest estimates published by Eurostat, among the 21 countries of the European Union, those that can boast a higher number of general practitioners in relation to the size of the population are Portugal (253 per 100,000) and Ireland (179 per 100,000 )«.
At the other end of the scale is Greece (42 per 100,000 inhabitants). In tenth place on the scale, or even surpassed by Holland, Belgium and Cyprus, we find Italy where we have 89 for every 100,000 inhabitants. There are a total of 54,000, but more and more elderly and close to retirement, so their number is destined to decrease in the coming years. A mediocre position, very different from the one we find ourselves in if we consider the total number of doctors in practice, i.e. both general and specialized.
There are about 1.8 million in service in the European Union and of these 240,000 in Italy alone. A figure that sees us second only to Germany, where there are 345,000. »The data show that in recent years little has been invested in training in primary care compared to specialist care«, comments Silvestro Scotti, secretary of the Federation of General Practitioners (Fimmg). But, he continues, »it is precisely by not investing in local medicine that the burden on emergency rooms and hospitals is increased, with the consequent problems in terms of waiting times, overcrowding and episodes of aggression against healthcare workers«.
The Minister of Health Giulia Grillo intends to intervene precisely to deal with the critical issues in the Emergency and Urgency area. "We have set up a table of experts - he explained - who will work on guidelines to make emergency rooms lighter, both in terms of entry flows, i.e. with respect to the number of patients who arrive there, and in exit flows, i.e. with respect to patients who they will be placed in the wards". This will be accompanied by »a series of visits to the most problematic structures as well as the most virtuous ones«.
By Livia Parisi – Fonte Ansa
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