In the near future there could be a sign outside the operating room of an Italian public hospital that reads: closed due to shortage of surgeons. “It is a not unlikely scenario that in some regions in the next few years the operating theaters will close,” he warns with alarm. Marco Scatizzipresident of Acoi (Association of Italian hospital surgeons), taking stock with Adnkronos Salute – If in Liguria only 4 graduates in Medicine have enrolled in the School of Specialization in General Surgery, in the next 5 years the need for specialists in the region, considering the many colleagues who will retire, it will be much higher than 4 residents. This scenario can be reproduced in many other regions.”
In Sicily and Calabria it was decided to 'import' doctors – including surgeons – from Argentina and Cuba, respectively. In the future of the National Health Service will we have fewer Italian and more foreign surgeons? “It seems to me that there is a clear perception that they are buffer solutions”, explains Scatizzi. “In Europe there are realities that are much more attractive from an economic point of view than in Italy” and therefore “the Argentine surgeon, once he has experienced first-hand the Italian healthcare reality and the thousand difficulties, I fear will quickly change the scene”.
The ACOI will organize its 42nd National Congress in Naples, 12-15 May. “We have the function of developing scientific themes and suggesting solutions which – Scatizzi points out – must not be improvised to give politics the alibi of having solved the healthcare problems, as we are seeing”. One of the issues still not fully resolved is that of the criminal shield for doctors. “The proposed one – observes the president of the surgeons – applies to some very limited specific cases. Our Acoi legal commission has expressed many doubts and we are evaluating whether to challenge the rule before the Constitutional Court precisely because of the restricted temporality it provides, given that last year that fact was punishable and today it is no longer punishable. A broader reflection and legislative reform is necessary on this matter – he continues -. We are waiting for the Nordio Commission to send the report to Parliament, but a criminal and civil reform to mitigate the legal disputes which are becoming one of the most serious reasons why a young graduate in Medicine does not choose to be a surgeon”.
The alarm over the lack of surgeons is present in other European countries, but in Italy “it is very serious – specifies Scatizzi – and has been dragging on for years. Today we only see the consequences. If in recent years the scholarships specializing in Surgery have increased , there is a worrying trend that they remain deserted. Here the data is alarming, we went from 28% in 2022 to 56% in 2023. It is a constantly increasing trend and illustrates the fact that young doctors no longer choose general surgery. If we add to this that there is also a flight from the NHS, with colleagues who leave at 50 to go to work with greater security in the private sector and those who retire, it is clear that the future of surgery in public health is very at risk”, concludes the Acoi president.
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