Sardinian healthcare is at the center of the debate in the Regional Council, where Article 2 of the Budget Law, which deals with healthcare, is being examined. Regional President and interim councilor Alessandra Todde is present in the chamber.
During the general debate, the center-right was unsparing in its criticism of the management of the past year and seven months, especially in light of the Constitutional Court's rulings on the appointment of local health authorities (ASL) and the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) ordering Flavio Sensi's reinstatement at the Sassari ASL. "If all the dismissed directors had followed Sensi's path, they would all be reinstated. This means everything was wrong," Antonello Peru of Sardinia told Centro 20Venti.
For FdI group leader Paolo Truzzu , "the president made a mistake by appointing a councilor who had no understanding of the world he was immersed in. Secondly, she forced us into the fifth month of provisional administration to implement a reform rejected by the Constitutional Court." This law "was used to oust the director-generals. Then she fired Councilor Bartolazzi because she said the majority was only interested in positions. She said it was an interim change of pace."
Gianni Chessa (Forza Italia) delivered a very harsh speech: "Let's look at reality. Sardinia needs a health commissioner, which is its biggest industry because it employs so many people. You're favoring private healthcare over public healthcare. Now I invite you to resign as commissioner and appoint someone capable ." Having said that, "the president should calm down. She can't think she's the savior of the country. This is a delusion of omnipotence, and arrogance. And I remind you that you're governing thanks to the votes of the PSDA, not thanks to your own votes."
Todde's reply
Todde spoke during the reply. "Why my interim? I looked at the examples of Francesco Rocca in Lazio, Roberto Occhiuto in Calabria, and Roberto Fico in Campania." On the appointment of commissioners: "Rulings must be respected and we must be consistent. But I want to point out that the issue of commissioners was also essential to understanding how to measure ourselves . Furthermore, regional healthcare lacks a data culture; what we do is not measured. Healthcare has a huge process problem, and in Sardinia, the regions are in competition."
The president then defended the government's work, which has nevertheless led to some important results. One of these is "the agreement with general practitioners, which allows us to work in a context of reduced bureaucracy." As well as "home care, a fundamental tool for decongesting hospitals. There are encouraging signs in this area. We've gone from 6.5 to 11 percent." Regarding waiting lists, Todde highlighted the difficulties: "We have separate CUPs, tied to each local health authority. Each local health authority has its own waiting list. There's a lack of coordination. The mechanism needs to be changed. The relationship with private healthcare providers also needs to be reviewed: yes to distribution based on specific requests, not budgets."
But, she concluded, "everyone must join forces to improve the system." "The Sardinians are looking to all of us. Citizens hold politicians accountable when things aren't working. This budget law allocates €100 million to feed the regional healthcare fund to meet national demands. I'm available to everyone regarding the overall vision. I'm ready to discuss it with the general managers. It's not a matter of partisanship. What matters is what we want to achieve." And there's also room for self-criticism: "If many things didn't work before, it can't be said that they've worked perfectly in recent months. I'm not infallible."