New National Collective Agreement for General Practitioners
In a significant development for the healthcare sector, the State-Regions Conference has given its definitive green light to the new national collective agreement (ACN) 2022-24 for the renewal of the agreement of the 60 thousand general practitioners in Italy. This agreement marks an “important goal” for the category, with 300 million euros per year allocated for salary increases. According to the general secretary of Fimmg (Italian Federation of general practitioners), Silvestro Scotti, this agreement represents “an important change of pace” for general medicine, with the increases being variable, but averaging around 609 euros gross per month for a ‘maximalist’ family doctor.
The agreement also introduces targeted corrections pending a broader organizational review in the next renewal, including greater flexibility for new parents and forms of support for doctors in training holding temporary positions. Additionally, the text calls for the responsibility of prescribing tests and visits deemed appropriate by all doctors involved in the process, marking a further step for the integration of doctors in community homes.
Regulatory Changes and Flexibility
Meanwhile, Forza Italia has presented a law text that aims at greater working flexibility for both family doctors and hospital workers by eliminating the restriction of incompatibility. The objective is to allow hospital and affiliated doctors to choose whether to work, outside of their working hours, also in other healthcare facilities – with additional paid hours – both public and private affiliated, thus expanding the healthcare offer for citizens. This proposal is seen as a solution to reduce waiting lists, with Health Minister Orazio Schillaci stating that “having a single fixed contract of 38 hours per week in the public sector, as currently envisaged, is now anachronistic because the needs of citizens and professionals have changed.”
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Reaction from Medical Unions
The medical union Cimo-Fesmed has expressed a positive opinion on the proposal, stating that it would make working in public health more attractive by stemming the escape from hospitals. However, the secretary of the Anaao Assomed hospital doctors’ union, Pierino Di Silverio, has warned that “it is not enough to sanction the abolition of the incompatibilities of doctors’ employment relationships, but the rules must be redesigned and rewritten. No reform without the involvement of professionals.”
Read more about the new national collective agreement and the proposed regulatory changes Here