2023-10-09 17:58:18
The family doctor and paediatrician, rather than a ‘free choice’, are increasingly a ‘forced choice’ due to the shortage of professionals. The desertification that affected paediatricians, today also occurs for family doctors who are retiring without a proportionate turnover of young people to replace them. Only 35% of the time does a citizen have a good situation with the availability of at least 5/6 free doctors to choose from within a couple of km of home. The situation is particularly critical in Trento, Milan, Turin, Bologna and Cagliari where only 1 doctor in 4 (in the best case scenario) has availability. This is highlighted by a survey by Altroconsumo – published today on the consumer organization’s website – carried out last June in 11 regions in which attempts were made to change the doctor or paediatrician, online.
Both the capital (with the exception of Veneto, with Padua, and Rome, where ASL 1 was tested) and a smaller municipality were considered, for a total of 22 cities. Out of 37 total findings, only in 13 cases (35%) was there an adequate choice of doctors (5-6) within 1-2 kilometers of the home. Liguria and Lazio were the best regions in terms of availability. However, there are 10 critical cases and 14 insufficient ones, among which the Trentino area stands out. To change the doctor or pediatrician, Altroconsumo visited the Region’s health portal area and checked how many professionals were available. The choice of the online survey was necessary not only “because many offices have limited access to the counter – we read on the site – but also to have a complete picture of the offer within the city (which cannot always be verified by accessing the counter of a specific local health authority).
It turns out that the address of the practice and the office hours are always available, but the age of the doctor is rarely indicated (only Puglia, Emilia and Campania do so). Only in Puglia, Sardinia and Veneto is the number of patients of a doctor published. “Both this information – writes the organization – is important both to know whether a doctor is close to retirement (several members have written to us that they have chosen a doctor who left his post after a few months) and to evaluate the impact of the number of patients on the activity of the medical practice”.
Healthcare is making important steps forward in the digitalisation of the services offered to citizens, but if there seem to be no major problems for the doctor, there is still work to be done regarding the change of paediatrician. In Liguria, Tuscany, Campania and Sardinia it was not possible to carry out the survey on pediatricians because the system was not present or did not work or required supports (smart card reader) which it was not possible to procure. For this reason, pediatricians have results in 18 cities and not 22. In Florence and Camaiore it was not possible to use the ‘online doctor change’ service for the pediatrician: by entering with the parent’s Spid, in fact, the possibility of operating for son’s account. In Campania the service worked for Acerra, but not for Naples. After various attempts and having contacted both the Sinfonia assistance number (which replied ‘the service is not available’) and the ASL help desk number (which does not deal with the telematic part), they were invited to go to the help desk. In Sardinia for the moment there is no provision for changing pediatricians online.
The shortage of general practitioners and paediatricians – explains Altroconsumo – can be attributed above all to the fact that in past years, the relevant ministries did not train an adequate number of doctors to make up for the many who left the NHS to retire. In 2019 the Ministry of Health attempted to unblock the turnover, bringing possible hiring to +10% and increasing the number of places in specialization schools, but the effects of this turning point will be seen in a few years, i.e. the time needed to the specialization of a doctor. In the short term, to make up for the shortage, the Regions have been given the power to entrust up to a maximum of 1,800 patients in disadvantaged areas to each family doctor (previously there were 1,500) and to paediatricians up to a maximum of 1,000 patients (previously there were 880).
Currently, however – concludes the organization – the doctor is ‘close to home’ only if you are satisfied with a doctor who sees you on the other side of the city, if you are happy with the fact that he is older (and therefore probably close to retirement), if one resigns oneself, in many areas, to sharing him with 1,799 other patients then, perhaps, one can find a family doctor.
#chosen #cases