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🇮🇹 Italy /Health & Science

Italy's Health Minister proposes decree to make family doctors public employees

From ANSA · (2h ago) Italian

Translated from Italian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Italy's Health Minister Orazio Schillaci is proposing a decree to make family doctors public employees, aiming to strengthen territorial healthcare.
  • The reform would allow doctors to voluntarily become public employees, creating a mixed system alongside current agreements.
  • The initiative seeks to address a shortage of general practitioners and improve healthcare efficiency by empowering community health centers.

Italy's healthcare system is poised for a significant transformation under Health Minister Orazio Schillaci's proposed decree, which aims to place family doctors at the heart of territorial assistance.

to act quickly to give Italians more efficient healthcare closer to citizens, especially the most fragile.

— Orazio SchillaciStating the objective of the proposed decree to improve healthcare efficiency and accessibility.

The core of this reform, detailed in a draft decree expected by May, is to integrate family doctors more deeply into the national health service. By offering them the voluntary option to become public employees, akin to hospital doctors, the government seeks to stabilize their role within the newly established "Case di Comunità" (Community Health Houses). This move is intended to bolster primary care and alleviate pressure on hospitals, a critical step towards a more efficient and citizen-centric healthcare model, particularly for the most vulnerable.

to make primary care a stable component of the organizational model of the Community Health Houses.

— Minister of HealthDescribing the central role envisioned for family doctors in the reform.

While the reform introduces a voluntary pathway to public employment, it preserves the existing agreement system, creating a mixed model. This approach acknowledges the diverse needs and preferences of medical professionals and aims for a gradual, planned transition. Discussions around remuneration are also anticipated, with a potential shift from patient-count-based payments to compensation reflecting participation in territorial networks and the management of chronic patients.

This is not an obligation but a programmed and progressive path: the text does not cancel the agreement, also to accommodate the many objections already raised in recent weeks, but introduces a mixed system, which could be increasingly extended in the future.

— Health Ministry officialsExplaining the voluntary nature of the proposed employment change for family doctors.

The initiative directly addresses the concerning shortage of general practitioners in Italy, which currently stands at over 5,700, with each doctor managing an average of 1,383 patients—exceeding optimal levels. The decline in the number of family doctors since 2019 highlights the sector's diminishing appeal. Minister Schillaci's plan seeks to "ennoble" general medicine, positioning it as a distinct specialization with compensation comparable to more traditionally prestigious medical fields, thereby enhancing its attractiveness.

to ennoble general medicine, making it a true ad hoc specialization, paid on par with others, more 'prestigious'.

— Health Ministry officialsExplaining the goal to increase the attractiveness of general medicine.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ANSA in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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