Italy expands family doctors' role in Community Houses under new agreement

Italy's national collective agreement for general practitioners introduces a formal framework for family doctors to work in "Case della Comunità" (Community Houses). The agreement specifies a defined portion of doctors' working hours, organized shift schedules, and a broadened range of activities, including chronic‑disease management, preventive programs, nutritional counselling and coordination with multidisciplinary territorial teams.

In the province of Ascoli Piceno, the local health authority (AST) and the doctors' unions signed an implementing agreement for 2026 that operationalises the national provisions. The pact guarantees 24‑hour and 12‑hour coverage in hub‑spoke Community Houses financed by the PNRR, sets economic and regulatory guarantees for GPs, and formalises their role in clinical governance and appropriate prescribing. The agreement aims to improve access to care, strengthen integrated pathways and address staffing shortages in local hospitals.

Together, the national and regional measures aim to make primary‑care services more continuous, coordinated and preventive across Italy.