«A stronger role for general practitioners and a network on the territory. Thus health care starts again »- breaking latest news

One year ago, with the implacable Covid and the exasperated criticalities, Lombardy no longer seemed like Lombardy. We needed the helmet from the Department of Health. Letizia Moratti it came with the chaos of vaccines, isolated territorial medicine, the controversy with the government. He changed the team, put Lombardy on track with vaccinations, it was the most efficient in administering it with the help of Bertolaso ​​and General Figliuolo: from the accused Region it turned out to be among the most efficient and virtuous in the world in the immunization campaign, together with Portugal and Israel. Now phase two begins. The regional health reform has passed. Critics say it does not touch the essential points, which is a way to change without changing. She says quite the opposite. It will change a lot. The focus is on the local area, investments are made in community homes and hospitals, and governance between the public and private sectors will be regulated. And the indications of Europe and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan are welcomed. “We are the first Region to do it,” he explains.

The lesson of the pandemic calls for quick medicine, closer to the people who have suffered. The reform just approved has this objective. Will we start from the new role of general practitioners?

«They will certainly have a fundamental, strengthened role. But this document is not a law that overturns the previous one: Lombard healthcare was and is a healthcare of excellence. Covid has exposed some weaknesses, especially on the territory and on proximity care. We want to intervene and improve right there ».

What does it actually foresee?

“We are thinking of a structured and qualified network of outpatient specialists, family doctors and pediatricians, to guarantee citizens an efficient health care that will lead to less pressure on hospitals, with the elimination of waiting lists”.

How will these health facilities be distributed in a region of eleven million inhabitants?

“When fully operational there will be 203 new homes and 60 community hospitals: to date 115 and 53 are planned, with an investment of 488 million out of the total of one billion and 200 million euros assigned to Lombardy in phase One of the Plan”.

And the times? Often the announcements do not follow the facts …

«The technical and economic feasibility projects for the buildings of the regional health system will be completed by December. With this acceleration, as soon as the resources are allocated by the ministry, 40 per cent of the homes and community hospitals will be built by 2022. Another 30 per cent in 2023 ”.

How will you convince family doctors to work as a team in the area? They are freelancers. Its predecessors never succeeded. Will the Region hire them?

«The real problem is organizational: and it is a fundamental step that we have faced with the Government. We must intervene. If the situation is not resolved nationally and in a structural way, I believe that inevitably we will have to go down that path ”.

It is the most delicate step …

“To implement the PNNR and ensure that the necessary doctors are in the community houses, a different organization is desirable. We talked about it with Minister Speranza. We hope to meet these requests ».

You also compared the commitment of hospital doctors with that, at times low, of general practitioners. Confirmation?

«You don’t have to make a bundle of all the grass. It is clear that we have excellent general practitioners who carry out their work with passion and self-denial. I cannot forget the sacrifices and what they did during the pandemic, putting their own safety at risk. Someone else, however, does not. My consideration was born in the light of many reports to the Welfare Department “.

Let’s imagine citizens’ protests for the doctor who does not visit home …

«… Immediately after the emphasis of that statement, I received many messages from people who told me they had hit the mark. But mine was a spur for a common and systematic goal, made up of responses and services to the community. It is the organization on the territory that must also be reviewed taking an example from the model of some European states ».

Will there be greater involvement of the Municipalities?

«The confrontation with mayors is a fundamental step. The approved law enhances their role both within the territorial districts and towards integration and greater dialogue with social services ”.

Public and accredited private. Too unbalanced ratio in favor of the private sector according to public service doctors. Will there be corrective measures?

“This reading is not true. We have world-class public excellence: nine of our facilities are in the top 14 among hospitals in Italy and five Lombard hospitals are among the best 25 in the world. Private health has an integrative role to public health. And during the pandemic it represented an important support to the public. Even in a post-pandemic key, this contribution will be essential to allow the recovery of waiting lists “.

Competition is not always on an equal footing, however: the public has many constraints, the private individual has the right to choose the pathologies …

«I continue to think that the virtuous competition between public and private can represent one of the strengths of Lombard healthcare. But with this law we will strengthen the control of the Region on the private sector. The centrality of public health is not in question ”.

What is the difference between this reform and that of the former governor Formigoni?

“We are facing different contexts in different years. We have had the pandemic, the growth of chronic conditions, the advancement of new pathologies and the emergence of criticalities in the field of neuropsychiatry. Not to mention new drugs and technological innovation. With this law we are going to concretize the grounding of proximity healthcare with certain times and resources, medicine with more services and technologies on the patient’s doorstep ».

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