Euro Grassi, provincial director of Fimmg, intervenes on the recent cuts "If the resources were distributed with a managerial spirit, they would be sufficient"
“The situation is dramatic. The decline in funding is a fact. There is a hole and Reggio's healthcare is also in the red. But what is missing is a managerial approach: the money available would be sufficient if we started from the question "what are the citizens' priorities?". Euro Grassi, provincial secretary of the Fimmg (Italian federation of family doctors) has no intention of meekly surrendering to the requests of the Region and even less of aligning himself with the positions "of a hospital - Euro Grassi immediately makes it clear - which absolutely does not relate to general practitioners".
Let's start with the cuts. What does the Region ask you?
«We are missing over 15 million euros without taking into consideration some facts: general practitioners in the province of Reggio provide 99 million euros to the national health service, costing a third of hospital doctors. Which hospital doctor pays for the surgery? The truth is that we are benefactors and no one recognizes it. The Region has presented us with a draft return for general practitioners which we rejected as a federation: the request was to save on drugs to create a fund with which to finance primary care. When primary care is to be considered essential to save the health system. Without forgetting that the Region ends up with its choices to hinder the associations of doctors as well as the 24h required by the Balduzzi decree ».
Do you feel punished?
«We were told, in the regional office, that the general practitioner sector has had fewer cuts than other sectors. It's a pity that we have always been the most penalized».
If the Region does not recognize your importance, what is the relationship with the hospital?
