Abstract

On the eve of the SARS Cov-2 pandemic Italy had a shortage of medical staff working in the Italian National Health Service (INHS), as a result of political choices made in the last decade. The Coronavirus pandemic highlighted this weakness and the Italian government took urgent measures to strengthen the workforce by hiring new staff. After presenting the pre-Covid scenario in terms of the number of medical personnel employed in the INHS, this article dwells on the measures promoted by the Government to remedy this structural shortage. Lastly, it questions future trajectories of the INHS, wondering whether the pandemic event represented an opportunity for a change of direction in terms of health policies, or whether the increase in the number of staff is only temporary and aimed at dealing with the emergency.