Some 4.5 forego treatment due to waiting lists, cost

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 14 - Around 4.5 million people in Italy forewent medical treatments or tests in 2023 due to long waiting lists on the national health service and the cost of going private, or due to organizational problems, the National Council of the Economy and Labour (CNEL) said in a report on public services on Monday.
    That amounts to around 7.6% of the population, up from 7% in 2022 and 6.3% in 2019.
    The report said spending on private healthcare in Italy continued to rise in 2022, increasing by 5% to 40.2 billion.
    The report said the number of family doctors in Italy dropped by over 6,000 in the 10 years up to 2022, when there were 39,366.
    It said the number is set to fall further as 77% of the country's GPs are 54 or over.
    As a result the average number of patients a GP has rose from 1,156 in 2012 to 1,301 in 2022 (ANSA).