There is a lack of doctors: the whole territory is covered from Viareggio, but the hospital headquarters will provide support
VIAREGGIO. There are no more medical guards. Or at least: there aren’t enough of them to cover the whole territory. The shortage of doctors, which concerns the entire healthcare system, reveals the so-called “continuity of care service”: the precious work of those who, at night and on holidays, replace the general practitioner for small emergencies.
To report to Tyrrhenian that, in these days, there was only one medical guard post in Viareggio for the whole Versilia were some citizens. Who asked for clarification. ASL admits: «The problem exists and falls within the structural shortage of doctors. Finding new professionals is getting more and more complicated. At the moment – continue by the health company – we have decided to cover more territories with the same location. Soon there will be a discussion with 118 to take charge of the service, even though we understand that the operators of the station are already very overloaded with calls ». And they will be even more so now that the tourist season begins.
The medical guard is, as everyone knows, the permanent facility that covers small health emergencies at night and on holidays. It is called “continuity of care” because it takes the place of the family doctor when he is not at work. From high fever to insect bites, from allergic reactions to domestic accidents: anyone has turned to these professionals, who are not always appreciated for the contribution they make. People who, at times, have to deal with everything that can go through a clinic at night. Even patients who are not always accommodating, if not violent.
In recent months, especially in the peak moments of the coronavirus emergency, users have repeatedly reported the difficulty in accessing the service. “The medical guard never answers,” was the protest. The fact is that the workstations have dried up of doctors, for two reasons: there are few professionals available and those who are available have legitimate reservations in dealing with this front line of the profession.
This is a bit like what happens in the emergency room: a very hard job, without interruption, throughout the year. Those who can choose choose another, unless they have a vocation. It is a structural problem, which concerns the training of new doctors: not so much in universities as in specialized schools. Which act as a funnel. The result is that there is a lack of specialists in emergency medicine, pediatrics, anesthesia and resuscitation, radiology. But general practitioners are also in short supply.
With the medical guard retreating on the territory, calls from users are already being diverted to 118, which apparently will have to shoulder an increasing number of requests for help. The Versilia plant, however, has its work cut out to keep up with all the phone calls: a simple summer is not expected, from the point of view of emergency-urgency. For those who will have to manage it, but also for those who will have to use it.
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