A European alarm must be heeded for the stability of public health systems
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In Italy, the crisis is already palpable: hospitals are empty, emergency rooms are collapsing, and doctors are fleeing abroad or the private sector. Doctors must be increased by 30 percent and nurses by 33 percent. The taboo numbers in healthcare are presented in the European Junior Doctors.
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The latest document from the European Junior Doctors is much more than a declaration of intent: it is a cry of alarm for the whole of Europe . Italy in particular, already plagued by years of underfunding and a shortage of healthcare personnel . According to the report's projections, by 2071, many European countries will need to increase the number of doctors by 30 percent and the number of nurses by 33 percent simply to maintain current levels of care . In a continent that is rapidly aging and experiencing rising chronic conditions, these figures aren't just a challenge: they threaten the resilience of public healthcare systems . In Italy, the crisis is already palpable: hospitals are empty, emergency rooms are collapsing, doctors are fleeing abroad or the private sector. The institutional response has often been limited to stopgap measures, ignoring the structural dimension of the problem. The EJD document identifies poor human resource optimization as one of the main causes: up to 50 percent of doctors' time is currently absorbed by bureaucratic tasks, to the detriment of direct care and the quality of care. In this scenario, the workforce-driven optimization proposed by the EJD becomes a crucial paradigm.
It's not about doing "more with less," but about enabling professionals to work better, reducing administrative burdens, investing in truly functional technologies, and involving young doctors in decision-making processes . The risk, however, is that optimization will be misunderstood and reduced to mere cost containment. This short-sighted vision would compromise the quality of care and exacerbate the professional drain. Every intervention must start from one principle: without protecting the well-being of healthcare workers, no reform is possible. If Italy and Europe do not immediately implement far-sighted policies—prevention, digitalization, and human capital development—the projections for 2071 will become an inevitable fate. The alternative is to act now. Because without doctors and nurses, there is no future for public healthcare. Neither in Italy nor in Europe .
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