Healthcare: Emilia-Romagna strengthens its network of support for citizens through the AFTs

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – A fair and accessible healthcare system, capable of prevention and providing timely responses. This is the objective being pursued by the Emilia-Romagna region, which has embarked on a process leading to the full implementation of the AFTs, the Functional Territorial Groups. These are groups of general practitioners (family doctors) from the same area, who work together and collaborate to ensure more organised care that is closer to the people; they also form one of the central pillars of the region’s new network of local healthcare services.

There are currently 49 clinics of this type, open for at least twelve hours a day, six days a week, with one clinic per district which, as part of the continuity of care scheme, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to the declaration of intent signed by the Department for Health Policy and the trade unions Fimmg and Fmt (which puts the Regional Supplementary Agreement into practice), doctors are based at a single location. This is very often a clinic within a community centre, open to the public for at least 10–12 hours a day, with the support of multidisciplinary staff, including medical and nursing personnel, ensuring widespread coverage and accessibility of care, whilst reducing unnecessary visits to A&E and waiting times thanks to the option of booking appointments via the continuity of care telephone numbers.

However, the Afts do not replace the GP, whom members of the public can continue to consult as usual. Their role is, in fact, to strengthen and expand healthcare provision by bringing more doctors together in a network and ensuring an additional presence in the local area. These clinics are designed for non-urgent health issues which cannot be postponed and which are normally dealt with by the GP. For example: mild fever, coughs and seasonal infections, minor gastrointestinal complaints, the need for a sick note, and prescriptions that cannot wait. Furthermore, they enable doctors to collaborate more closely in the management of chronic conditions that require ongoing monitoring and care.

“We are putting into practice a crucial reform for the future of public healthcare in Emilia-Romagna,” emphasises Massimo Fabi, the regional councillor for Health Policy, “with a fundamental added value: this is a process developed in collaboration with the trade unions, rather than imposed from above; it is the result of ongoing, fruitful dialogue that is always open to adjustments and improvements.” The AFTs, the Councillor adds, ‘are not simply a new organisational structure for general practitioners, but a tool to strengthen the network of services, facilitate collaboration between different professionals and provide care close to our communities, improving the management of chronic conditions and minimising queues at A&E departments or waiting lists as much as possible. ‘The aim,’ concludes Fabi, ‘is to build a local healthcare system capable of identifying people’s needs before they reach hospital, ensuring proximity and continuity of care.’

Measures such as those that led to the creation of the Afts are, in fact, essential in a region such as Emilia-Romagna, where around one in four residents is over 65. In this context, chronic conditions, multimorbidity and loneliness are on the rise, whilst family networks are becoming increasingly fragile. The volume of needs is changing, but above all their nature: there are fewer acute episodes to resolve and more long-term conditions to manage, in which clinical and social factors are intertwined. We therefore need primary care capable of adapting to needs that evolve over time, of managing clinical and care pathways, and of guiding citizens through the network of health and social services. With this in mind, the Region is implementing Mission 6 of the PNRR, thanks to which 167 Community Homes, 41 Community Hospitals and 47 Local Operations Centres are now operational across the region. It is now focusing on ensuring these facilities are fully operational, with staff, technology, and links to hospitals, emergency services and social services.