In the new economic maneuver of the government, the spending cap for health personnel remains anchored to that of almost a decade ago. According to the President of the Medical Association Filippo Anelli, who was interviewed yesterday by the paper La Stampa, "it will not be possible to solve the problem of the shortage of doctors and nurses: on the contrary, it will increase as, despite the almost 50,000 scholarships funded by the former minister Speranza, the next generation is expected to work only in 45 years". “Anchoring the spending, which has already decreased by 1.4%, to that of 2004”, explained Anelli “has determined two negative phenomena: first, the return plan from deficits has triggered the block of the turnover in the Regions, thus not allowing to replace even those who have retired; then, the programming of access to specialization schools has been subject to economic needs rather than quality standards of care". The question remains, how many doctors are left in hospitals? According to Agenas, the Public Institution for Regional Services, there will be 30,000 missing in the next five years. Between now and eight years, there will be 70 and 80 thousand missing, according to trade union estimates.
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