THE FUTURE OF PAEDIATRICS IN ITALY: A HOSPITAL DOCTOR POINT OF VIEW

Key words: Paediatric primary care, Secondary care, European health standards,

Paediatric primary and hospital care services in the Italian national health system are briefly commented, comparing them with other European systems. The number of paediatric residents in Italy has been reduced in the past years, according to European standards, which brings to an urgent need for a more efficient use of Italian paediatricians. Family (a figure unique to the Italian health system) and hospital paediatricians need to tightly cooperate to provide a coordinated answer to children's and families' health needs, with the priority of night and week-end patient care. Primary care and hospital paediatricians are asked to raise their professional profile, in view of their common specialty.