Reggio Emilia Hiring health workers, extending hours, hiring trainees. The Region puts in place tools like these to reduce waiting times in healthcare.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the yellow and red colors not only indicate the areas into which the country has been divided, but also the length of time patients in Emilia Romagna have to fight with.
Reggio Emilia is certainly no exception. On March 6, a patient from Reggio received a communication from the doctor that she had to perform a CT scan of the chest for a tumor. The control visit is scheduled for September. Well, yesterday you did not find a useful date with the Cup for two hospitals in the province. «They send people to Padua – the patient complains -. Other people confirm to me that the expectations are biblical ”.
The examination that needs it has a coverage of one hundred percent in our province according to the data of the regional system, updated however as of May 2021. The so-called “performance index” on a regional scale fell from 92 percent to 86 percent in ‘last year. If we consider that 136,005 specific chest exams were carried out in the region in 2021, we can see that thousands of people find themselves putting a strain on patience, as well as physical.
There are alternatives, but in the private sector. “They force you to pay,” adds the patient. The critical points are not lacking for other exams. From the data updated to May 2021, in Reggio Emilia Holter electrocardiograms had a performance index of 83 percent and spirometries of 73 percent. The two values are valid for the two yellow shades among the Reggio diagnostic services.
Much worse goes for specialist visits, in which the “red cards” (eight) are more than promotions (seven). Dermatological (58 per cent) and ENT (51 per cent) visits fared less, worse for pulmonological (29 per cent) and above all gastroenterological (13 per cent) visits. In other words, about one in eight people with gastroenterological problems receives the answers in due time.
The first 2022 data on a regional scale show just three values over 90 per cent, set as a minimum ceiling by the Region: oncological visits (100 per cent), orthopedic visits (93 per cent) and cardiological visits (91 per cent). The lowest value is for visits for diabetes, which fell from 78 percent in 2021 to 61 percent.
For diagnoses, the most painful point in all of Emilia Romagna appears to be spirometry with an insufficiency index (57 percent). The same percentage – again like Emilia Romagna – regards interventions for thyroid tumors. Those with prostate cancer see the index drop to 61 percent from 72 percent in 2020.
The Region is confident of reaching 9 in the report card (90 percent) by the end of the year for oncological and vascular surgery in addition to other interventions. A lower value is expected for general surgery, where the target is 7.5 (75 percent index).
“The period between 2020 and 2022 was significantly affected by the pandemic,” recalls the regional councilor for health policies, Raffaele Donini.
In Emilia Romagna 2,069,839 specialist visits and 3,584,339 diagnostic interventions were carried out in 2021, down compared to 2019 (2,402,234 and 3,910,368 respectively). The Region estimates that it has recovered 53,000 total benefits in 2021.
Emilia Romagna is ready to play other cards, including greater use of telemedicine and collaborations between health companies.
“We intend to do whatever it takes to get back to our standards – Donini reiterates, in harmony with the President of the Region, Stefano Bonaccini – taking into account the two dramatic years we have behind us”.
The two exponents of the regional council call into question the trade unions. «They have every right to demonstrate and criticize – remarked Bonaccini – in a healthy confrontation for democracy. We know that there are critical issues and we want to solve them in terms of personnel and resources ».
The president does not skimp on criticism of the Draghi government regarding reimbursements for Covid expenses incurred by the Region, proposing extensions of up to twenty years. Donini echoes: “We will define the hiring policy with the trade unions.”
The regional councilor of the Lega Daniele Marchetti, vice president of the Healthcare Commission, is critical of the allegations. “The term” every proposed action will be subject to discussion with the trade unions “indicates that there is still nothing defined,” says Marchetti.l