Healthcare, the maneuver confirms the cuts

Dettori (Cgil) a RadioArticolo1: “C’è un progressivo definanziamento del sistema, che in dieci anni ha visto la perdita di 65 mila posti letto, la riduzione di 4 mila addetti in organico, di cui 15 mila medici, e l’eliminazione di 35 mila precari”

rassegna.it – 19/12/2017

"I confirm the negative opinion on the 2018 budget law as regards health, due to the fact that the cuts decided last year are reiterated, with a progressive definancing of the system, which in the last decade has seen the loss of 65,000 hospital beds, the reduction of 40,000 employees, of whom 15,000 are doctors, as well as the elimination of 35,000 precarious workers, with the average age of the staff rising at 54 years old". So Roxana Dettori, confederal secretary of the CGIL, to the microphones of RadioArticle1.

Minister Lorenzin said that, by virtue of the rise in GDP, in the end there will be more resources for the national health service. “Per noi, è la prova del nove che i fondi attuali sono insufficienti e non sappiamo neanche se l’ipotesi d’aumento del costo delle sigarette per trovare 500 milioni in più passerà o meno. Not only. The superticket remains, at most it will be remodulated region by region, ending up with increasing inequalities in our country. It is an unjust tax, which weighs on sick people and renders citizens' right to health, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, uncollectable. For this reason, we will continue the mobilization undaunted and in January we will decide how. In addition to health care, there is the social issue, where we are fighting for the approval of a law on non-self-sufficiency. At the base, there is the fact that the Ministry of Economy cannot decide the country's health policies, but the government must do it”, said the union leader.

“Furthermore, another very worrying aspect, the clogging of emergency rooms and hospitals. Instead of starting a plan to remodel the existing health network, we proceeded only to cut beds and services, closing and merging hospitals in the area. All of this has resulted in the current chaos, with grueling queues facing citizens. Despite the age-old shortages of personnel and the increasingly onerous workloads, the remaining employees manage to guarantee assistance to the sick at the price of great sacrifices: just think that on average, working hours have risen from 36 (per contract ) to 44 hours a week, with overtime becoming daily practice and often not even paid anymore due to lack of resources. Given the situation, we have asked to cut some general managers and managers and encourage the NHS to the detriment of insurance companies”, continued the trade unionist.

“It would then always be valid and effective a real battle against tax evasion. Here too, we have made a proposal which provides for the recruitment of staff to the Revenue Agency. In the end, if done right, we could get the money for not one, but two Finance! Thus providing incentives for workers and rehabilitating citizens' right to health and ultimately relaunching the national economy, because if the NHS works, for every euro spent, one and a half euros enter, if we consider everything around it, in the form of investments and revenues: pharmaceuticals, health facilities, contracts, canteens, laundry, etc.”, continued the confederal secretary.

Pubblico e privato possono coesistere in sanità, però alcune linee devono essere chiare: “The public is the object that has the task of planning, organizing and guaranteeing health services for all. While the private is a tool of integration, that is where the public fails to reach – penso alla riabilitazione che nel Ssn è pressochè inesistente ed è garantita attraverso convenzioni pubbliche stipulate con privati – subentra e integra, secondo i dettami impartiti dalle Regioni, responsabili dei piani sanitari, senza però entrare in competizione col pubblico, come fanno la vecchia sanità cattolica e laica. Anche perché la concorrenza va a danno degli utenti, mentre una buona integrazione va esclusivamente a favore dei cittadini e dei loro bisogni di salute. Ma, ripeto, il primo obiettivo resta quello di aumentare le risorse per il Ssn e abbattere le diseguaglianze tra persone che si curano e quelle che non lo fanno più per mancanza di soldi. Knowing that the more funds available, the less expenses are generated, making the population safer than health”, concluded the CGIL exponent. 

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