Up to 73 years in the clinic. Since there are not even remotely enough numbers to replace the old guard and fill the gaps, the "solution" is to keep general practitioners working beyond retirement age.

The numbers

The buffer measure, for now until December 31, 2026, contained in the Public Administration decree converted into law in recent days is causing quite a stir in Sardinia, where - net of some "heroes" who, in order not to abandon their communities, decide to continue their activity even when they could peacefully retire - there is a real emergency, with 467 vacant positions (the coverage in the regional territory is 70%, but there are areas, such as Nuoro, where it drops to 60%), and an estimate for the next six years, barring second thoughts, of 719 outgoing doctors compared to about 70 incoming ones.

The choice

It is true that some people are willing to continue out of passion and dedication, especially in small towns where very close relationships are created between the old doctor and generations of patients, but in general the family doctor can no longer bear the burden of bureaucracy and an increasingly elderly and sick population, and can't wait to reach the finish line of a well-deserved rest.

Snami (National Autonomous Italian Doctors Union) is strongly against the extension: «Faced with an increasingly serious shortage of doctors, the State's response seems to be: make them work more, pay them less and further worsen their conditions. A short-sighted, unacceptable and offensive approach».

The disaffection

Luciano Congiu, secretary of the Smi (Italian Doctors' Union), highlights «the growing disaffection of young people towards general medicine, demonstrated by the deserted tenders, with regions where the unassigned grants reach 40%. In Sardinia, in the last training course, out of 84 available grants, only 64 applications were presented and 43 accepted».