Lamezia Terme – “In Lamezia at the moment there is a very high demand for doctors and a slow bureaucracy.” With Alberto Caputo, representative of general practitioners, we face what is one of the thorniest knots that citizenship lives. general practitioners.
“Before talking about everything – explains Caputo – we need to consider the problem as a whole. We went from the seventies to the 2000s, for a period in which, especially in the seventies and eighties, there was a supernumerary of doctors. The relationship was roughly one doctor for every 300 inhabitants, there was even talk of the neighborhood doctor. Politics did its part and also ruled in this sector and they tried to “fix” the children. If you remember, there were split wards to allow this. In Lamezia there was for example Surgery for men, Surgery for women, General surgery, general surgery for emergency room. Then there was Hand surgery, Finger surgery, etc. The politician on duty who had a doctor to fix he created a department for him in exchange for the electoral consent. Each department occupied other situations, and thus a position of power was created. The doctors were there and they had to be occupied. Then, the problem arose. he with so many doctors, after having exhausted the places in the hospital, the medical guards were created, maybe someone will be affected but that’s the way it is. Imagine a medical guard in Martirano Lombardo, one in the larger hamlet of Martirano, one in San Mazzeo, one in Conflenti and so on. I say of course to give an example. Thus, in the span of 5/6 thousand inhabitants there were up to four or five medical guards. In short, it was necessary to employ these doctors, otherwise where did they put themselves? “.
Doctor Alberto Caputo, representative of general practitioners
Let’s analyze the current situation.
“Let’s go back to the example above. Surgery Department one, 25 men and 25 women; Surgery two, 25 men and 25 women. Surgery of Soveria, also here 25 and 25; Clinical surgery Michelino I think he had 15 or 30 in total. So, if we do the total we are over 100/150 beds in Lamezia and in the Lametino. Let’s look at today. We have an excellent surgery, 7/10 places because there aren’t more than 10. So, let’s talk that Over 100/130 beds have been closed. It means that the number of doctors who were there has completely changed. Before there were four primary doctors, now only one. Before there were two surgical assistants men and two surgical assistants women and more staff still. Now at the most in all there are 4/5 who maintain a ward with an operating room. The number of doctors has dropped significantly at the same time as the limited number, with the tendency that there has been to close the hospital, with the trend that has been there until before Covid, the punt or number one was hospitalization. Only after Covid did we realize that there was territory. But in reality the territory has been at a standstill for many years, so the youngest doctor is now 66-67 years old. In Lamezia, which reflects the national data, at the moment there is a very high demand for doctors and a number of doctors that are very few. A bureaucracy, for the insertion, not slow, but shocking. A political power that, as always, blocks everything because it must try to occupy the son, the nephew, the cousin, the relative on the right and on the left “.
Specifically, what are the critical issues?
“A step that could be simple, like one plus one equals two. Let me explain. In Lamezia there are 30 deficient areas and there are 40 doctors. It would be enough to get in one afternoon and solve everything. But no, years go by. The area deficient is named in the month of March. Then it leaves in April, then May passes and so on … “.
What is meant by a deficient area?
“It means that there must be a doctor for every 1000 inhabitants. For inhabitants, those of pediatric age are excluded. When you have this ratio of one / a thousand in fact there is a place for the doctor. When he leaves, for a reason or for another, there is a shortage. In Lamezia then there is another particular problem. In the last four years we have had 4 thousand fewer residents. The first factor is certainly the decrease in births, and then there is a second factor that our children go to university and leave. According to this report, about seventy doctors are needed in Lamezia “.
How is the ranking done?
“It is no longer done at the ASL level as it once was. Today it is done at the regional level. So if, for example, from Reggio Calabria they give me the Convention in Lamezia Terme what can I do? I accept it. I do not open, or I open at the ghost level, and I wait for the ranking to be made because after two years I can ask for the transfer and so I automatically skip all those who are in my neighborhood. Therefore, we have doctors who are not from Lamezia Terme, but what do I know , of Soverato, of Catanzaro, who do another activity such as the medical guard, or other and take the Convention in Lamezia with three borrowers, five borrowed it doesn’t matter, and they don’t come. After two or three years they apply. If accepted they leave otherwise they wait another two years. So, we have these areas that are blocked by a certain number of people, and then we have the other point of failure which is the age of the doctors, closer to the 70 than at 65, not at 60. In the period that goes tr to those born between 1950 and 1956/57 – which is the starting point of the limited number – there is an enormous number of doctors. If one retires in March the deficient zone is made up in March next year. If there are people, for example, those of 52 who retire this year with 70 years, it happens that if doctor Rossi, doctor Bianchi, doctor Verde, doctor Celeste is missing, they are not immediately replaced. . And not even in the next year but in the one after that. It can therefore take up to two years “.
How is the assignment done?
“When the assignment is made, there is a risk that the questions are not properly analyzed. So everyone, seeing their rights violated, appeals. The last ranking, for example, came out some time ago. Many people have appealed and all have won it. On Lamezia they have recently entered 3 new ones, and these had all appealed and won. Then we have some paradoxical cases. In Curinga, for example, the Convention was given to a doctor from 68 years. That is, we have closed a deficient area with another deficient area. Then we have the case of Falerna, for heaven’s sake it is completely legal. But a very good doctor went, but who does 70 years a day. So what can we do, one year, two years? But then what is basic medicine collapses. There is also another factor, who can choose to go to the hospital where they earn a lot more. colleagues who leave if they have the chance to. The truth is, there are doctors there are few of them and the demand is enormous. The Region and the ASP do nothing to try to fill this vacatio, allowing to maintain ambiguous situations that could be resolved in a different way, typical of all things in Calabria “.
Do young people today have a passion for medicine? Can we hope that the number will increase to make up for the shortcomings?
“I am confident in young people because they are the present, they are not the future. This is a fundamental issue. And they must work on what the past has left them. We have done many good things but also many bad things. profession, fascinates and I believe that every parent dreams of a doctor child. You live well. Being a doctor certainly does not make you hungry, it is really difficult to find a poor doctor. There is the possibility to move around with work as you want. like all things, it happens that there are many people who do it for passion but there are also those who do it for the money. Look, all the young people I met, they are good, prepared and willing. When I talk about young people I have a lot of faith in the present, only that we need to give it more space “.
A.C.