Revitalizing the National Health Service: A New Era of Healthcare
The National Health Service (NHS) is undergoing a significant transformation, aiming to enhance healthcare assistance and bring care closer to citizens. The Italian government has approved a draft enabling law, tasking the Government with updating the legislative decree 502 of 1992 by December 31, 2026. This reform seeks to strengthen the NHS, ensuring it is more responsive to the healthcare needs of citizens, and reducing the phenomenon of healthcare mobility.
Key Objectives and Reforms
The primary goal of this reform is to implement a higher level of health protection, as outlined in Article 32 of the Constitution. To achieve this, the government plans to introduce new organizational models, including the creation of national reference hospitals (third-level hospitals) and “elective hospitals.” These third-level hospitals will be recognized for their excellence at a national level, with a national catchment area and supranational reputation, identified based on high-quality standards, research activity, and patient flow from other regions.
Elective hospitals, on the other hand, will be acute hospital facilities without an emergency room, where non-urgent acute patients can be transferred from other higher-level hospital facilities. This reform also aims to improve the appropriateness of the hospital offer by defining minimum standards for hospitalization activities. Additionally, it will focus on local assistance for non-self-sufficient people, ensuring staffing standards, continuity of care, and promoting home care.
Enhancing Primary Care and Mental Health Services
The reform also emphasizes the importance of primary care, with a reorganization of the discipline of general practitioners and pediatricians to strengthen their contribution to local healthcare. While the text does not clarify the specifics of this reorganization, it is expected to enhance the role of family doctors in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the reform aims to update assistance for people with complex and advanced chronic pathologies, organize palliative care, and reorganize mental health services.
The government has also emphasized the need for “financial neutrality” in implementing these reforms, unless Parliament allocates additional resources. This approach ensures that the reforms are sustainable and do not place an undue burden on the healthcare system.
For more information on the new National Health Service reforms, including the creation of national reference hospitals and the reorganization of primary care, visit Here