Many doctors and few beds: this is Sardinian healthcare seen from Brussels

Sardinia is the European region with the largest number of doctors . The record is written in the report dedicated to " Nuts 2 ", i.e. the group of territories that Brussels has classified as "less developed". There are twenty-two in all, including our island. However, the record on the availability of healthcare personnel is counterbalanced by a low number of beds , which has a negative impact on the quality of hospital care .

This open window on the care of Sardinian patients is the second episode of an in-depth study on Nuts 2, the complete study of which was made public at the end of the month by the Region through the Statics Office. The numbers that make up the overall picture allow us to understand how far the "less developed" areas of the Old Continent are from the growth goals approved by the UN in 2015 and contained in the "Europe 2030" protocol (the other day the first episode on the poverty risk rate). The focus on healthcare is linked to Goal 3, which indicates the objective of "ensuring" "health and well-being" for all EU citizens.

In Sardinia there are 483.4 doctors per 100 thousand inhabitants. The island has no equal in the Nuts 2 group, which includes the entire Southern Italian region plus two Spanish and two Polish regions. Add one territory each in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.

It is precisely our South that has the highest numbers of doctors on duty in hospitals: after Sardinia, here is Sicily, at 443.1. Then Molise, with 416.4, Campania with 392.9, Puglia with 388.8 and Calabria with 371. Basilicata closes with 338.4.

Outside Italy, a high number of white coats can be found in Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos in Lithuania and in Moravskoslezsky in the Czech Republic: there there are 399.5 and 391.7 doctors respectively per 100 thousand inhabitants. The figure for Andalucía, in Spain, is not insignificant either, at 381.3. The lowest number of doctors, equal to 205.1, is recorded in Mazowiecki, Poland. Then here is Közép-Dunántúl, in Hungary, at 233.4, and the Province of Luxembourg, in Belgium, at 240.2.

These are the intermediate values for doctors per 100 thousand inhabitants: 361.2 in Nord-Vest in Romania; 351.9 in Yugoiztochen, Bulgaria; 350.1 in Małopolskie, also in Poland; 346.2 in Jadranska Hrvatska, Croatia; 332.2 in Sterea Ellada, Greece; 323.2 in Alentejo, Portugal. Below the 300 threshold, there are Vzhodna, in Slovenia, with 286.3, and Západné, in Slovakia, with 280.4. The Iberian region of Castilla-La Mancha has 276.3 doctors per 100 thousand inhabitants.

As for hospital beds, Sardinia's position in the Nuts 2 ranking changes completely. The best of all is the Nord-Vest in Romania, at 744.5 per 100 thousand residents; the worst is Sterea Ellada, in Greece, with 186.7. Sardinia has 304.5 beds and this is a significantly lower value than the European Union average, where availability rises to 524.8, again per 100 thousand inhabitants.

The small number of beds within Nuts 2 is common to Sardinia and almost the rest of the South. If we exclude Basilicata and Molise, with a value of 319.8 and 315.1 respectively, all the other Italian regions have even lower numbers than our island. Calabria has 220.1 beds per 100 thousand inhabitants; Campania 250.4; Puglia 289.1; Sicily 291.5.

Romania's record is not an exception among Eastern European states: in Moravskoslezsky, in the Czech Republic, there are 703.6 beds. It is the second best data from Nuts 2. In third place is Yugoiztochen, in Bulgaria, with 689.7. Közép-Dunántúl, in Hungary, boasts a good 645.5, while Małopolskie, in Poland, is at 618.4. Also above the European average are Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos, in Lithuania, with 595.5, and Jadranska Hrvatska, in Croatia, with 528.9.

On the opposite side of the ranking, the two Spanish regions are not doing well either: in Andalusia there are 229.9 beds per 100 thousand inhabitants, while in Castilla-La Mancha 246.4. Portugal is even worse: in Alentejo the figure stops at 210.3.

In Sardinia the trend of beds has fallen from 2010 to today: twelve years ago there were 373.4, with a very slight increase in 2011 to 374.4. Then the slow fall to the current settlement at 300.