Milan, 30 April (beraking latest news Salute) – From angels of the pandemic to victims of media pillories, of real aggressions, even of their own work made of grueling shifts, ‘breaches’ in security, contractual rights denied or made to appear as concessions or privileges. Filippo Anelli, president of the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (Fnomceo), on the eve of Labor Day thus describes the ‘parable’ of the profession at the time of Covid. It is “a bitter May 1st for doctors,” he declared in a statement. “Don’t call us heroes, give us back our rights,” he asks.
“We have never liked the narration of the heroic doctors, even if many colleagues have shown that they really are during the pandemic. We do not like it – explains Anelli – because it is fallacious: a hero is expected to be invincible, immortal, and this becomes almost a pretext to ask him for the impossible, to the point of demanding that he renounce his rights as a man, a citizen, a worker. The right to health, safety, life, even. The right to respect contractual rules and a fair remuneration . And last, but not least, to that of serenity and dignity “.
“This is why we cannot remain indifferent in the face of denied rights. In the face of exhausting shifts, unpaid overtime, holidays not granted, maternity leave indefinitely postponed, remuneration not commensurate with work – lists the president of the doctors – To staff shortages, which force, for example, the anesthesiologists themselves to assist, in resuscitation, Covid patients and at the same time patients who undergo surgery. safety of care “.
“And it is for this reason – continues Anelli – that the media attacks of these days sadden us so deeply. From the unjust criticisms on vaccination fees, moreover, still twenty years ago, received by Telenorba, to dampen which even the governor intervened of Puglia, Michele Emiliano, to those for having suspended, pending a clarification of roles and tasks, by the ministry and the Privacy Guarantor, the signatures of the certificates for the Green Pass. of reproaches for colleagues who do not visit Covid patients if they are not placed in safe conditions. The Hippocratic Oath has great meanings, but unfortunately it is not an individual protective device: it cannot be asked as an act due to a doctor to put his life is at risk – President Fnomceo specifies – only because the institutions have not provided protocols and organizational systems to protect them “.
“These narratives, of greedy, or listless, or fearful doctors, who have replaced that of heroic doctors – urges Anelli – are all the more dangerous because they foment aggressive instincts in citizens, which result in real acts of violence. A few days ago, in Bari, a colleague – who then did not want to report the fact – was threatened with a knife by a patient convinced that he did not want to vaccinate him. The colleague, like many of us, was left without vaccines, which arrive in fits and starts. limited quantities. And the institutions respond, rather than with solidarity and with concrete actions, with investigations and inspections that seem more demonstrative than effective. And they only have the effect of undermining even more the serenity of the professionals. lack of bread, the circus performers, where the circus performers have unfortunately become doctors “.
“All this is unfair, unacceptable”, thunders the number one of the medical orders. “We ask for respect – is the appeal – Respect for the 358 colleagues who lost their lives; for all those who got infected; for all the 455 thousand doctors and dentists who didn’t back down before, in the face of a virus unknown, and who are not holding back now, in the face of an unprecedented vaccination campaign “.
“So the hope is that these tangible signs of closeness will arrive from the institutions. That vaccines will finally arrive for all citizens, in all Regions, and for all doctors. That employment contracts are respected and renewed, with adequate shifts , sufficient rest, and fair remuneration. That safety in the workplace is guaranteed: because a tired, frightened doctor, subjected to all kinds of pressures is unable to ensure top performance. That, for the same reason, serenity is restored to professionals. For this May 1st we ask only one thing “, Anelli repeats:” Don’t call us heroes, give us back our rights “.