Donini: “We improve and speed up assistance, without giving back on the safety and quality of care. An unprecedented, profound and innovative reform, to give new answers to new health needs, which can lead the way in the country “
The plan starts from the Emergency-Urgency and also involves hospital and territorial assistance, with the aim of providing increasingly effective services, also on the basis of the needs that emerged after the Covid. To the Assistance and Urgency Centers (CAU) and medical-nursing teams who will operate directly at home
18 July 2023 – Emilia-Romagna is ready. There reorganization of the emergency/urgency network can leave. Illustrated last week by the councilor for health policies, Raffaele Donini, in the Commission meeting, and after an all-out discussion with the players involved – the world of health, the trade union organisations, professionals, local administrators through the Territorial Social and Health Conferences (Ctss), the private healthcare providers and the members of the Pact for work and for the Climate – yesterday afternoon it was approved by the Regional Councilwho fired the Guidelines for Healthcare Companies. Will now be the latter a define the organization of services based on the regional model, choices that will be approved in the territories within the Ctss by mayors and local administrators, returning an overall picture to the Region.
“This reform, which we will implement gradually and progressively – he explains Donini– it will change, for the better, the care and assistance services for citizens in emergency-urgency situations. We do not want to run the risk of desertification of the emergency rooms, or close the facilities in the area, let alone privatize, as is happening elsewhere due to the lack of health personnel. We give citizens the guarantee that in an emergency, i.e. at risk of life, they will be taken care of even more quickly and effectively. While, for low-critical health needs, citizens will be able to refer to the network of Emergency Assistance Centers (Cau), which we will set up near the large Emergency Rooms, in some Community Houses, in the territorial health structures already characterized by an almost total management of white and green codes, and in some polyclinics of general practitioners, saving time with the same efficiency of performance and safety. We are talking about a complete reform of the system – concludes Donini – which is unprecedented in our country”.
A reform that could pave the way in the country: Agenas, the National Health Agency, is investigating it on a mandate from the Ministry of Health, just as the State-Regions Conference was given a mandate to do the same, having identified a possible reform path valid throughout Italy.
Highlights of the reform
First, dedicate i First aid for the most serious casesfreeing them from tasks that can be handled faster elsewhere.
And then the birth of Assistance and Urgency Centers (CAU)distributed throughout the territory e able to respond, usually day and nightto most of the needs and urgencies with low clinical and care complexity expressed by people.
Also, the creation of medical and nursing teamthe UCA, who will work in the patient’s home; without forgetting the strengthening of telemedicine, with 20,000 computer workstations already foreseen throughout Emilia-Romagna.
Finally, the strengthening of the operating structure from 118.
The objectives
There’s a objective clear, ambitious but reachable who gave herself the Region: after decades in which the regional health service has constantly provided high levels of assistance to its citizens – as evidenced by the position always at the top in Italy on the guarantee of the Lea – it is now called to manage different complexities and challenges, which, moreover, unite Emilia-Romagna with the rest of the country: to give new responses to new care needscoping at the same time the shortage of health personnel e the increase in the demand for services.
A transformation – from urgent emergencies to hospital and territorial assistance – which sees Emilia-Romagna, on the strength of its advanced professional and organizational skills, cutting-edge structures and innovative technologies, the first Region in Italy committed to rethinking healthcare organizationwith an ambitious model that it will be able to do as a forerunner at the national level.
The reform, summarized in the document “Guidelines to the Health Trusts for the Reorganization of the Emergency Network in Emilia-Romagna”was therefore approved by the Council.
Three o’clock intervention lines that give it body: strengthening of the pre-hospital emergency; introduction of the Single European Emergency Number (NUE 112) and the Harmonized European Number (NEA 116117), with 3 Operations Centers who will work in close relationship and contiguity with the 3 118 Central Stations; establishment of assistance and emergency centres (CAU) territorial for non-emerging medical care.
How citizens will be informed
To inform citizens and support them in this phase of change, the Region will launch a communication campaign, including multimedia, aimed at the entire population, with details on: purpose of the reorganisation; characteristics of the new network; timing of activation; cases of those who can go to the CAUs urgently; location and functioning of the structures, needs to which they respond. At the same time, the campaign will highlight which health situations require direct access to the emergency room.
Furthermore, precisely to enhance and systematize the valuable contribution of volunteering which so much has in the emergency relief activitieswill be established a permanent discussion table between the Department of Health Policies and the regional representatives of Voluntary organizations who carry out this activity. Another working group will monitor it progress implementation of the plan, verifying the results annually.
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