One in two Italian families, 50.8%, has difficulty reaching the emergency room, an increase of 1.6 percentage points compared to 2022″. This was revealed by Istat in the report on public utility services.
“The highest percentages are found in the South, with around seven points higher than the national average, followed by the Islands and the Centre, at 52.7% and 52.4% respectively”. The study then highlights that “in over 11 Regions the percentage of families who cannot easily reach this service exceeds the national average: the highest is recorded in Campania (63.5%), followed by Calabria (62.5%) , Liguria (58%) and Puglia (57%)”.
“The size of the municipalities of residence – continues Istat – strongly influences the level of difficulty of families, since it is linked to the location of the emergency room points in the area: in the central municipalities of the metropolitan area the percentage is equal to 43.8 % while in very small municipalities (under 2,000 inhabitants) it rises to 68.6%”.
As for access to local health authorities, in 2023 just under 40% of people aged 18 and over went to one of these facilities. The indicator reaches the highest values in the Center and North-East (around 44%), the lowest in the Islands (33.3%). “However, the situation is very different – explains Istat – between the two islands (39.7% for Sardinia and 31.1% for Sicily). Users who complain about waiting queues lasting more than 20 minutes for the services offered from the local health authorities are 49.8% on national average. The latter frequency, however, has a minimum of 34.7% in the North-East and which rises to 61.5% in the South and 66.5% in the Islands. At a regional level, Sicily (68.4%), Molise (67.6%) and Calabria (67) exceed 67% of users who wait more than 20 minutes (about 20 percentage points more than the national average). 2%)”.
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