Tuscany appeals against waiting-lists law

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 10 - Tuscany is appealing to the Constitutional Court on legislation approved in July seeking to cut national health system waiting lists, Governor Eugenio Giani said on Tuesday.
    The appeal is aimed at "raising the attention on the government's centralistic stance on healthcare", Giani told reporters, adding that in order to cut waiting lists "we need resources to pay overtime to doctors" and to "hire" new personnel.
    Under the legislation, regional governments will be obliged to set up single 'CUP' booking centres for people to reserve appointments and monitoring of waiting lists will be assigned to the national agency for regional health services, AGENAS, with a health care control inspectorate and services offered at weekends if necessary.
    Regional governments will also set health agency managers annual waiting-list targets and those who fail to meet them risk 12-month suspensions, according to the draft.
    Members of the opposition have slammed the measure, saying it fails to provide the resources necessary to tackle the problem while public healthcare is struggling under the weight of insufficient funding. (ANSA).