VENICE (ITALPRESS) – “The numbers tell us that a truly important job has been done in reducing waiting lists to overcome the situation that the Pandemic had left us as a legacy. An immense task that in this last year has been rewarded with important results. I wanted meticulous management control, with continuous data and an IT system that can allow us to have the situation updated day after day. The curve of waiting services is falling rapidly; proof of this is that for priority D services, that is to be provided within 30 days, last year in May almost 83,000 people were waiting, in May of this year around 13,000. Thanks go to all the doctors, nurses, social health workers and administrative staff for having made such a commitment”. With these words the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, presented the latest data on waiting times for specialist services in the Veneto health system. The meeting was attended by the regional health councilor, Manuela Lanzarin, and the general director of the Health and Social Area, Massimo Annicchiarico. From May 2023 to the following year, the services with priority B (to be guaranteed within 10 days of the prescription) from 502 have been eliminated; those with priority D (30 days) have gone from 82.
811 to 13,913, equal to -83%; those with priority P (60/90 days) from 74,489 to 28,317, equal to -62%. “An exceptional action has been taken – continues the governor – which sees a homogeneity of results in the various companies of the Region with great teamwork. Since 2019, we have hired 4,900 new professional figures in the health companies but unfortunately there is still a shortage of doctors. In Veneto, there is a shortage of 3,500 out of a national shortage of 50,000. To dispel the urban legend that we do not hire, I say that a competition is held every three days but with very few applications from medical managers, there are few of them in the labor market due to a national planning that was wrong years ago. The control room that we have organized is countering this situation by purchasing packages of services, incentivizing our doctors and operators to work internally with forms of freelance professional relationship in addition to that provided for by the contract with the Region and studying other forms of service. And with an innovative project in Veneto we will also use artificial intelligence to help manage booking flows”. “The work is not finished yet but the numbers show that we are working well, we count on a reduction of the expectations that had accumulated by the end of the year – adds the Councilor for Health and Social Policies, Manuela Lanzarin -. The work is continuous, under the monitoring of the control room and making full use of all the tools available. For these important results I would like to thank those who are involved in this effort: all the professionals, doctors, nurses, technicians, operators who follow and interface with patients in the path from the CUP counter to the delivery of the report. I would also like to express my thanks to the users of the Health Service who have shown understanding in the moments of greatest difficulty”. In the fight against waiting lists, the Veneto Region has also opened its doors to artificial intelligence, as Massimo Annicchiarico, general director of the Health and Social Area, explains: “Given the need for specialist doctors to schedule a series of tests that must precede the control assessment, AI is able to help front office staff identify the dates for the correct progression of the various appointments needed before the visit. In this way, not only is the sequence of tests correct, but citizens are also spared from having to return for the various prescriptions”. – Photo: Veneto Region Press Office – (ITALPRESS). col4/com 02-Jul-24 16:15 .
