Unions on Tuesday confirmed a
strike by doctors on Wednesday to draw attention to problems
facing the healthcare system in Italy.
The protest is to go ahead even though Premier Matteo
Renzi's government presented an amendment to its 2016 budget
bill late on Monday for the hiring on new health sector
personnel to address the effects of EU rules on work hours.
As a result, Italy's regional governments will have the
power to hire health personal on temporary contracts and then
hold selection competitions from June for the permanent
appointments. The funding to finance the hires will be obtained
from savings generated by planned health reforms, sources said.
"The strike is over general problems in the health sector
and hires are only one part," Fp-Cgil medici secretary Massimo
Cozza said.
"The issue is the sustainability of the national health
service," he added.
"Our protest aims to draw attention to the fact that there
is a concrete risk of survival, for our health system and the
delivery of services to citizens," Cozza said.
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