A Decade in Transition: Forms of Recalibration in the Italian Regional Health Systems

Abstract

ABSTRACTStarting in the 1990s, healthcare legislation in Italy gradually expanded the powers and responsibilities of the regions. In this context, focusing solely on the National Health Service (NHS) may have limited our understanding of regional‐level transformations over the past decade. This article examines the restructuring of Italian Regional Health Services (SSR) from 2011 to 2021. We specifically analyse two key dimensions of healthcare: ordinary hospital beds and territorial structures, paying close attention to their composition and the public‐private nature of the offer. Our article aims to achieve two main objectives. Firstly, it describes the changes that have occurred in different SSRs over the past decade, deepening the functional, institutional and distributive aspects of ‘recalibration’. Secondly, we explore whether homogeneous clusters of SSRs emerged or if, on the contrary, the recalibration process has given rise to a kaleidoscope of health systems, underscoring the significant regional differentiation that has long characterised Italian healthcare.