Mariano Votta

Abstract

The health personnel, a fundamental pillar of the Italian care system, is going through a season of crisis with considerable concern on the part of all stakeholders, institutional and non-institutional. The presentation highlights the main findings of the first civic survey on health personnel in Italy, carried out by the Italian NGO Cittadinanzattiva in collaboration with the FNOPI, FNO TSRM, and PSTRP Federations. A study that provides insight into how 10,000 workers, representing 20 different health professions – incuded nurses - live their professional condition. Starting from the main institutional data, a civic reading of the phenomena and criticalities concerning the health workforce in Italy was produced, probing the reasons why health professionals stay or flee from the National Health Service in Italy, but also representing the attention to the issue in a dimension that is not only national but also European, since the phenomenon does not only concern Italy. Neglecting the health workforce crisis jeopardizes current and future preventive and care options for citizens. Family doctors, nurses, and all HCPs are essential within healthcare systems, ensuring the well-being of citizens and fostering trust in the system. Their support - from a public policy perspective - is paramount. Just after the European elections, what steps should be taken as a priority to address this urgent problem Civil Society and healthcare organizations, together with Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) and EU umbrella patient organizations - a total of 42 entities from 16 Member States, all united in protecting the health rights of European citizens - recently wrote an open letter to the newly elected European Commissioner for Health to express serious concerns about the healthcare workforce crisis in Europe, which requires immediate and comprehensive action from the highest levels of political leadership. With 15 million healthcare professionals, constituting over 7% of the EU workforce and almost 4% of the EU population, their indispensable role in ensuring the well-being of our citizens and fostering trust in our healthcare systems cannot be overstated. The relevance of the initiative did not leave indifferent the Members of the European Parliament, some of whom formally supported the message. The new EU Institutions are called upon to address the health workforce crisis by supporting healthcare professionals’ knowledge acquisition and upskilling, which are the main preconditions for greater protection of patients' rights across Europe.