An organizational model that is first and foremost a challenge to a situation that has long been common to the whole country, the difficulty of taking care of an ever-increasing number of citizens who turn directly to the emergency rooms – which are not always the most correct response to their needs – and at the same time the lack of personnel due to a real generalized lack of emergency professionals, a shortage which puts the very survival of the EDs at risk in the territories. To respond to this critical issue, and maintain all (7) EDs in the province of Modena, the model of the Emilia-Romagna Region envisages dedicating the Emergency Department to the most serious cases, creating alongside it a widespread network of other effective and efficient, to already guarantee responses to the majority of needs and emergencies defined as “low clinical and healthcare complexity”, which, as they do not place the citizen in immediate danger to his life, can be managed in more adequate structures and in a network with other services territorial.
So not just the future Emergency Assistance Centers (CAU), but already now the strengthening of the Continuity of Care network, which in the Modena area, with the new single provincial number 800 032 032 active since July, is to all intents and purposes an already implemented part of the reform. The underlying logic is clear: it is the “territorial health network”, which as a whole takes care of the health of every citizen.
In the not too distant future, the operators of 116117, the single European number for access to non-urgent medical care, will direct patients towards the structure best suited to their needs, who will work in close correlation with their colleagues on 112 (number European emergency) and the three 118 operations centers present in the region (Parma, Bologna and Romagna) thanks to their thirty years of experience in receiving and managing health calls.
The debate made it possible to collect contributions from professionals, both on the elements of the reorganization and on further aspects to be developed, always to strengthen the care of the citizen according to the principles of proximity and continuity of care, safety and equity.