Care for the elderly, crises and staff shortages undermine the quality of the service – breaking latest news

In 2020, there were 3,935,982 people over 65 who were not self-sufficient, equal to 28.4% of the total. An important number, which must arouse everyone’s conscience on the need to make the elderly care sector capable of responding to the needs of this population cohort. This is the starting scenario from which the 5th Cergas SDA Bocconi – Essity Long Term Care Observatory Report begins, which this year wanted to photograph the personnel crisis, highlighting on the one hand the shortage of professional figures, on the other how this crisis is reflecting on companies and services without any remedial measures having been prepared at the regulatory level.

According to the data of the Report, for 91% of the RSA interviewed the regional legislation and glthe outdated standards of services they are perceived as the greatest constraint on personnel management. The minimum standards established by the regulations, in fact, do not always correspond to what would be necessary according to the actual characteristics of the residential service, called to respond to increasingly complex and multi-dimensional needs of residents. The 5th Report of the Cergas SDA Bocconi – Essity Long Term Care Observatory provides an important cross-section of the care sector for the elderly in Italy, highlighting the shortage of professionals. In the Italian RSAs, 21.7% of nurses, 13% of doctors and 10.8% of OSSs are missing. Among the causes, also the competition between the health and social health sectors: 61.7% of nurses, in fact, left the RSA for new employment contracts in the hospital health sector. All this puts the quality of the assistance service and the growth of the sector itself at considerable risk.

The personnel crisis has a direct impact on companies, as evidenced by the managers of the participating RSAs: according to 90%, personnel costs increased in 2022, while 74% declare that employee burnout has increased and that the quality of services has worsened due to the lack of numbers. To further complicate the picture, the Report highlights how when we talk about Long Term Care in Italy we refer to a multitude of assistance services, even very different from each other in terms of vocation and operating methods. The Report compared the residential model for the elderly in 12 Italian regions; an extreme heterogeneity has emerged, which derives mainly from the way in which the regions have regulated and set the standards for residential services.

RSA does not mean the same thing in all regions, leading to a profound inequity in the country. The various regulations have in fact produced different welfare standards, tariffs and classification criteria for guests, with inevitably different impacts on the operations of the managers and on their ability to innovate and respond to the needs of citizens. However, an interesting fact that the Report highlights for the first time is that the comparison with the regional regulations shows that the companies have on average more staff than required by the regulations: the sample analyzed shows an average of one nurse every 5.1 OSS (2021 data), higher than the average ratio of 5.6 defined by regional standards. According to the promoters of the Report, there are some guidelines in which it would be advisable to move to ensure higher quality of care and to address the personnel crisis and its repercussions on the Long Term Care sector, especially if we consider that in 2021 62% of companies participants stated that the balance has worsened.

In this sense, the Report of the Cergas SDA Bocconi – Essity Long Term Care Observatory proves to be a great opportunity for the sector, because it represents an opportunity for exchange and sharing on managerial aspects, and a precious meeting point between the welfare system public and the private sector. declares Elisabetta NotarnicolaAssociate Professor of Practice, Government, Health and Not for Profit Division at SDA Bocconi School of Management and coordinator of the Report: «The data show that tackling the personnel crisis is possible, but an investment is needed in two directions: rethinking services also according to the new needs of professionals and operators and investing even more in people.

Over the years, the Regions have produced heterogeneous rules and regulations, which risk turning into disorder and complexity if univocal policy responses are not found. The effort of companies in overcoming the crisis is remarkable, but for a real change it is necessary that the individual responses are coordinated in a broader overall vision». Massimo Minaudo, Chief Executive Officer of Essity Italia, adds: «As with all sectors of personal services, the Long Term Care sector could not exist without the professionals who produce and promote assistance and the quality of care. In a system that is strongly based on trust, skills and quality of work, the Cergas SDA Bocconi – Essity Long Term Care Observatory Report allows us to analyze the state of health of the care sector, providing us with valuable information on its real needs. The need for unity to overcome the multiple interpretations of regulatory standards is certainly the most eloquent data that demonstrates how the Long Term Care sector needs targeted coordination action, to respond more and more effectively to the needs of non self-sufficient subjects”.