In 2007, the Ministry of Health started the annual evaluation of the efficiency of the Italian food safety and veterinary public health services, using qualitative and quantitative indicators, in the framework of the procedures of the “LEA Committee” (Essential Levels of Assistance) for the assessment of appropriateness, efficiency and adequacy of the services provided by the national health system (NHS). This work describes the guiding principles, the methods and the most significant aspects that emerged during this experience, which lasted over a decade.
The evaluation system has contributed to the evolution of the programming process, at national, regional, and local level, and has had clear positive effects as a reference point to quantify human and instrumental resources as well as laboratory capacity, thus contributing to the clarity on the targets assessed and to the coordination between health authorities in order to achieve them.
The adoption of a complex and analytical management tool also offered useful information to the policy-makers during the phase of defunding and generational turnover, that has affected the NHS since 2008 and is still continuing2.
2 Libro Bianco sulla sicurezza alimentare – Bruxelles,
12.1.2000 COM(1999) 719.