Doctors and nurses: from criminal shield to free profession what slips to 2026

An extension until 31 December 2026 of the so-called 'criminal shield' for healthcare workers, i.e. the provision that, until 31 December of this year, provides for the limitation of punishability only in cases of gross negligence for the crimes of manslaughter and culpable personal injury, if the act was committed in the exercise of a healthcare profession and in situations of serious shortage of healthcare personnel. This is provided for in the draft of the Dl milleproroghe expected to be examined by the Council of Ministers for final approval.

The extension of the penal shield had been urged by the Federation of the Orders of Doctors and Dentists (Fnomceo), also through a letter from its president, Filippo Anelli, to the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, in order to avoid a regulatory vacuum pending a review of professional liability. The rule stabilising the shield, in fact, is contained in the reorganisation of the health professions that has just arrived in Parliament and the timeframe for its approval is not expected to be very fast. According to Fnomceo, 'the particular working conditions resulting from the shortage of personnel, as well as the scarcity of available means, are such that healthcare professionals should be relieved of criminal liability in all those cases of death or injury, possibly caused to patients, other than gross negligence, at least until the current critical issues are resolved or at least mitigated'.

This year's Dl Milleproroghe is presented in a more streamlined form with only 16 articles. There are many regulations concerning healthcare. Also extended by one year (until 2026) is the temporary derogation to the incompatibility restriction for healthcare professions dependent on the National Health Service, which in essence allows nurses and other operators to engage in freelance activities outside of working hours, but requiring prior authorisation from the local health authority and complying with specific requirements. Extension is also granted for the fixed-term recruitment of postgraduate students starting from the penultimate year of specialisation. Lastly, a number of appointments for the non-self-sufficiency reform have been postponed: the identification of criteria for priority access to services and the composition and operating methods of the multidimensional assessment units for ascertaining non-self-sufficiency and for the definition of the individualised care plan have been postponed to September.

Postponement by one year also of the preliminary activity related to the determination of the essential levels of services (LEP) with the deadline moved from the end of 2025 to 31 December 2026. The LEP framework remains a central node in the relations between the State and the territories, and the Cabina di Regia will therefore have an extra year to overcome the technical difficulties in identifying the standard costs and requirements to guarantee services in a homogeneous manner throughout the national territory, starting with social assistance services.