in a note sent to the ASL of Naples 1, 2, 3 south, of Avellino, of Benevento and Caserta and for the information of the Governor of the Campania Region, Hon. Vincenzo De Luca and the General Directorate for Health Protection, the Professional Order of Physiotherapists strongly requests that all necessary measures be implemented to combat the abusive practice of the profession which in our Region takes on dizzying numbers.
In fact, already in 2013 the ratio between regular and illegal workers was 1 to 2, in essence for every regular therapist at least two illegal workers worked. President Paolo Esposito: "We hope that our proposals, which can be implemented at zero cost, will be accepted and a concrete fight against professional illegality will be put into effect".
Below we publish the full note sent to the competent Local Health Authorities and to the Region by the Professional Order of Physiotherapists of the Provinces of Naples, Avellino, Benevento and Caserta.
Subject: measures to combat the unauthorised practice of the profession
Kind,
in continuing the fruitful dialogue underway with the above-mentioned bodies, aimed at addressing in a synergic manner all the critical issues that concern the health system and the profession represented, we hereby wish to highlight the problem of the unauthorized practice of the profession in order to identify common strategies to combat the phenomenon.
The numbers are worrying if we consider that already in 2013 the ratio between regular and illegal was 1 to 2, essentially for every regular therapist at least two illegal ones worked. Certainly the lack of a Professional Order made it difficult to contrast, but, as is known, with the decree of the Ministry of Health of 8 September 2022 n.183 the Order of Physiotherapists was established, already a register belonging to the Order of TSRM - PSTRP by virtue of law 3/2018.
The problem concerns, in particular, the Rehabilitation Centres accredited with the National Health Service where various types of illegal immigrants are found:
– physiotherapists with a qualifying qualification, but who have not fulfilled the legal obligation of registration with the Order;
– practitioners who have not obtained the qualifying qualifications and are therefore not registered with the professional order;
– rehabilitation professionals, registered in their professional register, but actually practicing professions other than the one for which they have received regular qualification.
It is also reported that many of the figures cited carry out rehabilitation treatments within accredited facilities, with foreseeable serious dangers regarding the health of citizens, sign the patients' attendance sheets and also appear in the Staff Organization Charts which form the basis for the attribution of the COM (maximum operational capacity).
It is easy to understand, therefore, that the fight against the unauthorized practice of the profession is among the main objectives of the undersigned Order, as a direct expression of the obligations to protect the health of citizens, as well as to protect the profession and professionals who have been regularly trained and have fulfilled the legal obligations to carry out their work activity.
Well, as representatives of one of the most “abused” professions, let us share a series of measures that could be adopted to combat the phenomenon:
1) insert the name of the professional on the patients' signature card together with the Register/Order to which he belongs with the relevant registration number;
2) insert the name of the professional together with the Register/Order to which he/she belongs with the relevant registration number in the personnel lists, transmitted by the Accredited Centres to the Local Health Authorities for the attribution of the COM;
3) advertise, on the ASL website, the link to verify the actual registration with the Order of Physiotherapists, so that each citizen can independently verify whether the professional they have contacted is actually registered with the Order or is an illegal one https://albo.alboweb-fnofi.net/registry/search ;
4) publish on the ASL website, in the Accredited Centers section, the lists of personnel of each accredited facility, so that each citizen can verify whether the professional to whom he has been entrusted is regularly registered with the Order.
The proposed measures are free of charge for companies and are based on compliance with transparency rules, undoubtedly the best antidote against illegal practices and malpractice in general.
Finally, it is considered appropriate to propose the creation of a Permanent Table to structure together every measure aimed at protecting the health of citizens, and possibly create collaboration protocols with the NAS. The widest collaboration with all company managements is reiterated, so that the phenomenon of the abusive exercise of health professions is definitively put an end.
Gennaro Savio
EDITORIAL TEAM
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