Healthcare liability, criminal shield towards stabilisation

Penal shield for white-collar workers. But also a package of measures aimed at enhancing specialist health training. And incentives to implement the appeal of the profession. These are just some of the measures that should be included in the draft enabling act on health professions that will be presented and discussed during thepre-Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for today.

At the top of the list is the thorniest issue, which has long been at the centre of a tug-of-war between the Ministries of Health and Justice: according to rumours coming from justice circles, a consensus seems to have been reached on the establishment of the criminal shield for doctors, which, once structural, would become immediately operational.

With regard to the definition of the measure - created to cope with the flight of doctors frightened by the idea of ending up in court and minimise the use of defensive medicine, with serial prescriptions of examinations and visits as a buffer - it is still unclear which of the two versions on the table could go ahead, reason why it has been on standby for some time. Despite the requests and appeals of orders, trade unions and professionals.

The first hypothesis confirms criminal punishability only for grievous misconduct (i.e. if he does not apply the fundamental rules of the profession and does not follow clinical practices) and an application of the shield without any particular stakes. The second, on the other hand, particularly supported by the judiciary, would contemplate the non-punishability of the doctor, hence the application of the shield, only in the case of 'of special difficulty' healthcare interventions and activities.

The spirit is to restructure and reform the White Gelli, favouring paths of fulfilment for professionals and establishing functional indications and guidelines to nurture and ensure good practices in the ward.