The NAS has reported twenty-six people, including doctors and nurses, following checks on the management of 3.884 waiting lists and booking diaries for outpatient services relating to the National Health Service.
These professionals have been accused of various crimes, including ideological and material falsehood, aggravated fraud, embezzlement and disruption of public service.
Nine of the doctors involved were accused of favoring friends and private patients by manipulating waiting lists. Booking schedules were suspended or interrupted in 195 cases, sometimes with unauthorized procedures.
The NAS inspections were conducted throughout the country at 1.364 facilities, including hospitals, clinics and outpatient clinics, both public and private with an agreement with the SSN. The doctors involved in the manipulation of waiting lists operated mainly in Milan, Turin, Perugia and Catania.
Furthermore, three doctors from the health companies in Reggio Calabria were reported for embezzlement, because they worked in a private polyclinic despite having exclusive contracts with public health companies. In Perugia, the NAS discovered a radiologist who was carrying out private work in another hospital, despite being on sick leave, and two nurses who were performing blood tests for private individuals, certifying false hospitalizations.
The inspection activity also highlighted 1.118 situations in which the management of waiting lists had problems and exceeded the times set by the National Plan guidelines, corresponding to 29% of the agendas examined. In 195 cases, the booking agendas were suspended or closed, sometimes with unauthorized procedures or due to lack of staff without replacement.
Furthermore, fourteen managers and doctors were reported for disruption of public service, as they had unjustly closed the booking diaries in the summer months, delaying diagnostic services to allow staff to take holidays or carry out paid activities. These problems were attributed both to staff shortages and to behaviors that did not comply with professional ethics, as in the case of a medical manager in a local health authority in the province of Rome who performed tests privately despite having responsibility for the same tests in public facilities.
Article published on 8 September 2023 - 08:40
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