Lombardy: over 1,400 new healthcare workers

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - To meet the need to recruit new professionals in the social care and healthcare sectors, the Lombardy Region has organised training programmes for 1,400 OSS (social and healthcare assistants) and ASA (social care auxiliaries). These new workers will take up their posts after attending specialised courses funded by the Lombardy Region through the ESF+ 2021–2027 programme and passing their qualifying examinations. Indeed, the call for applications has now closed, having received a positive response in terms of both structure and participation across the entire region. “Thanks to close collaboration with the Department for Welfare, which helped us identify specific vacancies at Lombardy’s residential care homes (RSAs), we were able to provide a highly effective response in a short space of time,” said the Lombardy Regional Councillor for Education, Training and Employment, Simona Tironi, explaining that “the funded courses fulfil a specific and fundamental social function, as they are aimed at unemployed individuals who would otherwise struggle to afford the cost of private training, offering them an opportunity to re-enter the labour market”. In order to respond promptly to the needs expressed by the local community, Lombardy’s social and healthcare training system has, in fact, adopted a dual strategic approach, combining social inclusion with the competitiveness of care services: social inclusion and the competitiveness of services. “ASA and OSS are key figures for the functioning of Lombardy’s social and healthcare system. Training new professionals means ensuring more robust services, meeting the growing demand for care and guaranteeing high-quality care for the most vulnerable people,” added the Regional Councillor for Welfare, Guido Bertolaso, emphasising that “it is precisely with this in mind, in close and constant collaboration with the Department of Education, Training and Employment, that we have designed the training programmes based on the actual needs of care facilities and local communities”.

As indicated by the Lombardy Region, 60 projects are currently eligible for funding, involving a total of around 1,400 learners. Specifically, 57 courses have already commenced across the region, divided as follows between the two vocational qualifications: 26 ASA courses and 31 OSS courses. The roll-out has covered the entire region comprehensively, ensuring that at least one course (either ASA or OSS) has been launched in every Lombardy province. Women make up 86 per cent of the course participants. Fifty-six per cent of those enrolled are over 40 years of age. In particular, after Milan (with 20 per cent of the total), Varese (17 per cent) and Bergamo (17 per cent) are the provinces with the highest number of participants. These are followed by: Brescia (13%), Monza and Brianza (10%), ⁠Pavia (9%), ⁠Como (4%), ⁠Lodi (4%), ⁠Lecco (2%),⁠Cremona (2%),⁠Mantua (2%) and ⁠Sondrio (2%).