No objection to Giovanni Landolfo’s return to general surgery, while further clarification is still needed regarding his resumption of the role of department director. This was the point clarified today in the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale) by the Secretary of State for Health, Massimo Andrea Ugolini, responding to a parliamentary question from Domani Motus Liberi.
Ugolini drew a distinction between the doctor’s return from leave of absence and the separate question of his position as head physician (primario). On the former, he said, there are no obstacles from the Social Security Institute (Istituto per la Sicurezza Sociale, ISS). Regarding leadership of the complex operating unit, however, the Executive Committee has requested technical, legal and organisational checks, tied to the contract governing the appointment.
“The professional’s competence is in no way being questioned,” the secretary stressed, framing the matter as purely administrative. The Congress of State, he added, has not carried out any assessment of the return, and no political direction has come from the Government or the Health Secretariat. As for the conditions agreed at the time the leave of absence was granted, the current Executive Committee has no knowledge of the arrangements made by the previous leadership.
The case, however, opens up a broader question: how to ensure continuity in a department when its head is absent for a long period to pursue another professional experience. Ugolini noted that a substitute head physician can serve for a maximum of twelve months, and proposed clarifying in future contracts what happens to an appointment in the event of extended leave.
“If someone wishes to pursue a different kind of professional experience and requests two or three years of leave, it is plausible that they could lose their position as head physician, precisely because the ISS must guarantee a public service and that substitution has to be made.” Ugolini presented this reasoning in general terms, looking to the future, and distinguished such cases from absences due to personal, family or health reasons.
On Landolfo himself, the assessment remains positive: “I believe Dr Landolfo — and this is my view, but I think it is widely shared — is an excellent professional, as we have said on many occasions. So his return to the Social Security Institute is very welcome.”
Fabio Righi (D-ML) thanked the secretary for his response, calling it clear and precise. He credited Ugolini with restoring “normality and proper procedure to this situation,” arguing that the matter had been heading in a different direction, risking the creation of a damaging precedent.
Righi read into the secretary’s words the prospect of the doctor’s full return: “He is undoubtedly an excellence recognised throughout the country and beyond, who — based on what we have heard today — will clearly resume the role he is entitled to at the Social Security Institute.”
