April 26, 2024, 06:50
3 min read
PALERMO – A touch of a magic wand would be enough, a signature in the council and voilà, the extraordinary commissioners of health would become in effect general directors of the health companies in Sicily.
The names of the general managers have already been chosen at the end of January (Read the complete list here) and there will be no second thoughts of any kind. Yet yet another week has passed without reaching the final act of appointment.
The nomination of “Bonino Pulejo”
Actually something has happened in the last few days. Maurizio Lanza he has already been “transformed”, on 15 April, from commissioner to general director of the “Bonino Pulejo”, the center for neurodeprivation in Messina. Who knows why only him.
However, Lanza will have to appoint new health and administrative directors, given that those who were there expired with his appointment. And it appears Lanza won’t be working overtime to speed up the appointments.
Almost two years of commissionership
Sicilian healthcare, therefore, remains essentially “commissioned”, a condition that has been going on for almost two years, considering that the first extensions were authorized well before the regional elections (autumn 2022) which brought Renato Schifani to the command deck.
Reasons? Some say we will talk about it after the elections to ensure that the commissioners are… adequately committed to collecting votes for the right “parishes”. This seems to us to be a motivation that would conflict with the strong sense of institutions repeatedly shown by Schifani.
The “Cencelli manual”
More likely, a definitive agreement on the distribution has not yet been reached (division, some would say) of the positions of administrative director and health director which must be weighed between the various majority parties with the “Cencelli manual” at hand.
At this moment, in which the lists and balances in view of the European Championships hold sway, no one among the majority parties believes it is useful to push the accelerator. The consequence is that the finish line seriously risks moving to the summer, if not even beyond. The new balance of power that will arise from the vote will make an almost inevitable Government reshuffle.
The precarious condition of healthcare
A delay that is not good (euphemism) for the precarious Sicilian healthcare system which certainly does not need further burdens. There are many problems, starting with the waiting lists which may have improved but are still far from a semblance of efficiency.
The official reports drawn up by the Ministry of Health they are worrying. The latest monitoring of LEAs by area of assistance (prevention, district and hospital) certifies that Sicily is in default. It’s not the only one, but the percentages are among the worst.
Negative numbers also regarding regional oncological mobility, which takes into account patients who go for treatment in other regions: Sicily has a negative balance of – 2,333 patients. And also in other performance appropriateness parameters Sicily is struggling. So much so that even from the Ministry there would have been more than one request to speed up the appointment of company managers.
The powers of the commissioners
It must be said that on a strictly theoretical level the powers of the extraordinary commissioners are equal to those of a general director. The only difference – perhaps formal but probably substantial – is that managers for now do not have specific objectives to achieve in the contract. This is why concern is growing.
The current extraordinary commissioners, Moreover, they are working as a team with medical and administrative directors which will certainly be changed very soon. The orientation, in fact, is not to confirm anyone in the place where you have worked so far.
Difficult to plan in these conditions. It is difficult to move up in the Italian efficiency rankings. And patients are becoming increasingly impatient. What do they care about the balance of the Palace?
Published on
April 26, 2024, 06:50
