30/08/2014 14:41
Italian doctor works just 15 days in nine years
The notorious inefficiencies of Italy's state sector were laid bare on Thursday as news emerged of a Sicilian doctor who has done just 15 days' work in the past nine years, The Telegraph reported.
After using a series of reasons to stay off work, the unnamed doctor was being pilloried as the latest example of how thousands of state workers find loopholes in the rules to duck out of their job.
Now the subject of an inquiry at his hospital near Catania, the doctor disappeared off on a university training course, reportedly paid for by taxpayers' money, when he started work in 2005.
Returning to work on October 31, 2008, the doctor immediately asked for, and obtained, paid family leave until May the following year. Then he worked 15 days at the hospital before calling off sick until July 2009.
Recovered from illness, the doctor obtained a place on another university training course, once again reportedly swapping his wage for payment from the state university, which lasted until June this year, said wire agency ANSA. The doctor is now allegedly planning more time off to obtain a doctorate which will finish in December 2016.