Premier Giorgia Meloni's government on
Tuesday is examining a decree and a bill with a series of
measures aimed at cutting waiting lists for national health
system services.
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, according to a draft of the decree seen by ANSA.
Under the bill, a draft of which ANSA has also seen, a national
register for citizens to report inefficiencies and problems with
services will be set up and health workers doing overtime to
bring down the waiting lists will get a 20% increase in their
hourly pay and tax for them will be brought down to 15%.
The bill also sets aside 100 million euros for clinics to bring
in specialists in order to reduce the waiting lists.
The bill features stick as well as carrot.
The regional governments will set health agency managers annual
waiting-list targets and those who fail to meet them risk
12-month suspensions, according to the draft.
It will be possible for health agencies to use junior doctors
who are in training to become specialists for up to 10 hours
each week to contribute to the waiting-list-reduction drive.
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