(Finance) – 70% of the population interviewed states that they have no particular problems in contacting their GP, while 69% say they are very worried about not being able to afford healthcare if necessary. A concern shared by the members of Parliament interviewed: 85% of them, in fact, think that respect for citizens’ right to health is not guaranteed to everyone, while the regional councilors have different positions and, with 77%, believe the opposite. This is what emerges from the survey carried out by Youtrend/Quorum for the NET-HEALTH project, Healthcare online 2030the policy enabler created in 2021 by LS Cube, the law firm whose partners boast over 25 years of experience in the Life Sciences sector, aimed at creating a platform for discussion and sharing of ideas, themes and points of view coming from all subjects in the healthcare world.
“Starting from giving voice to the various stakeholders of the health system – he comments Rosanna Sovani, Partner of LS CUBE – and by collaborating with experts in the field, the objective of the project is to provide a concrete contribution in the design of future health policies, developing technical-legal proposals aimed at contributing to the implementation of policy solutions for a sustainable and universalistic”.
The project, whose work is hosted by the Parliamentary Intergroup “Innovation and Sustainability” co-chaired by Senators Francesco Zaffini and Daniele Manca, makes use of scientific partners, such as the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome, Altems Advisory, a spinoff of the University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Roma and the Welfare Observatory of the LUISS Business school, created with the non-conditional contribution of Exact Sciences, Gilead Sciences, Roche and Sanofi.
Accessibility to care and organizational efficiency, areas of investment/financing of the NHS and digitalisation: these are the three main themes of the survey, submitted in 2023 to parliamentarians, regional councilors and citizens, on which technical documents will be developed by three working groups, led by the scientific partners.
In the survey, regarding the topic of possible solutions to eliminate inequality in access to care between different regions, for councilors (69%) and citizens (65%) the best choice would be to carry out greater controls and impose more transparency in the work of the regions, while the majority of parliamentarians interviewed, 60%, indicate the solution in the centralization of healthcare responsibilities at state level. Furthermore, prevention and strengthening of territorial medicine are the two priority areas of intervention for citizens (32% territorial medicine and 30% prevention) and decision makers (for parliamentarians 69% for territorial medicine and for regional councilors 50% for prevention).
“These data make us reflect on the need to improve the organization of the Healthcare System itself – also through careful “evidence-based” planning – so that we can optimize the resources available and guarantee homogeneous patient care at a territorial level, which safeguards equal access to social and health services, a pillar of our NHS. Our challenge will be to contribute to the identification of a path that allows for effective and multidisciplinary organisation, as well as integrated patient management, to be understood as an LEA, thus ensuring that the NHS can continue to guarantee uniformity in care for equal health needs for people”, concludes Professor Dario Sacchini of Altems Advisory, scientific coordinator of the working table on organizational LEAs.
For the financing of the NHS, the three segments interviewed agree on the fact that the NHS does not suffer from a lack of funds, but that those available are not managed in the best way (for parliamentarians 54%, for regional councilors 61%, for citizens 59%). For example, in relation to PNRR funds, according to decision makers the main difficulties in using them are: for 57% of regional councilors bureaucracy, while for parliamentarians bureaucracy drops to second place (40%) and in first place lack of local technical support (41%).
A further concern is that of having to resort to private healthcare more and more often, due to cuts in public health services. A fear shared by all three parties in a rather homogeneous way: 75% of citizens, 88% of parliamentarians and 100% of regional councilors, in fact, believe that there is an increase in the use of private healthcare to be able to obtain quality care in a reasonable time.
“The healthcare of the future – he adds Mauro Marè, Full Professor of Financial Science at the Luiss Business School and scientific coordinator of the working group – will be compatible with the universality of treatments, only on condition of a radical recovery of efficiency in a context of unchanged effectiveness. Therefore, the working table will focus on redefining the methods of financing the NHS in the logic of public-private partnership to guarantee its sustainability, equity and universality. All in the logic of public finance at the service of the health of all citizens and therefore more ethical”.
Regarding the digitalisation of the NHS, the data highlights one thing divergence between the perceptions of decision makers (95% parliamentarians and 94% regional councilors) for whom digitalisation will tend to guarantee the right to health for all and that of citizens, for which only 45% have this same optimistic vision, while for 43% it is more likely that inequalities will increase. Furthermore, the majority of citizens (59%) are against sharing their health data for commercial or altruistic purposes (35% quite against and 24% very against). Interesting elements that highlight the need to intervene to create a culture of data sharing, in a regulated context that stimulates a more favorable approach.
Comment Fidelia Cascini, Professor of Hygiene and Public Health at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Romeas well as scientific coordinator of the working table on the Data Governance Regulation “Interesting food for thought on the challenges that our country will face in view of an ever-increasing and inevitable digitalisation of information, data relating to patients and healthcare services We will work to develop guidelines aimed at identifying those aspects of Italian legislation that require adaptation and to accompany the development of documents for optimal implementation of the DGA in the healthcare sector, to protect citizens and support innovation” .