Raffaele Lanteri, regional head of Doctors of Ugl Salute, does not hide his head in the sand: “Let’s get ready for the shock wave”
CATANIA – The Covid emergency is not over. To be clear. But even in health there is that desire to restart. But after 13 months of interruption of the services and of the “deferrable” and “non-urgent” interventions, it will certainly not be easy to return to full capacity. And unfortunately, the consequences are paid more by the front lines of the emergency: the emergency rooms are increasingly crowded and besieged.
Veterans of war
“We are coming out of a war, so we have to be ready to face the next few months as if it were a post-war period. Let’s get ready for the shock wave ”, says Raffaele Lanteri, regional head of Doctors at Ugl Salute, without filters. “The battle against covid was hard and full of victims. We had to concentrate forces and resources to be able to deal with it, now with the vaccine we can finally think about getting the part of the machine that we have been forced to shut down ”, comments the union doctor.
“Open the San Marco emergency room”
Lanteri prefers to be proactive to criticism. And so he already has a number of proposals on the table. “In order to lighten the burden of what our emergency medicine is experiencing, I say let’s open the San Marco Emergency Department as soon as possible. It is one thing to divide the user into three principals, it would be different to divide them by four. And let’s not forget that the southern part of the city has a population of about 80,000 inhabitants ”. At LiveSicilia, the manager of the Policlinico Gaetano Sirna clearly said that the San Marco emergency room is among the first things that will be done as soon as Covid gives some respite. “We will continue to ask for its opening as a mantra, until it is a reality”, reiterates the manager Ugl.
“Expand outpatient services”
In the meantime, however, to lighten the emergency rooms, it is essential to “expand outpatient services”. In the meantime, a few weeks ago at the Policlinico, in line with a council circular, the programming for the recovery of the services postponed last year for Covid was started. But that’s not all, because bookings for non-urgent outpatient services have also resumed since 9 June.
The chronicity network
Unfortunately, after months and months of “non-checks” and “screening” postponed – on the one hand for stand-by and on the other for fear of contagion – many acutely ill patients have unfortunately become chronic. “The chronicity network for the sake of truth – says Lanteri – was conceived and had to be activated. But then Covid arrived and blocked this too. Now we have to get back to that project. I repeat, what we faced was a war. We extend the services, if necessary we open the clinics even in the afternoon in order to make up for lost time ”, he says. And he adds: “If it were up to me I would open them even at night”.