They are hired to cover the holes. And there are many holes. In the emergency-urgency sector, but not only. Radiology, for example, another health branch in crisis. They are professional and specialized doctors like the others, like the colleagues with whom they then share the departments and tools. The strangeness? They take three, four, even five times as much. And they also arrived in Friuli. In Lignano, in Grado, in the Spilimberghese area. They are the so-called “token doctors”. A method that today is harshly criticized by the relevant professional order. Guido Lucchini, Pordenone president of doctors, uses strong words: “It’s an injustice.” In the ward, in fact, there is a risk of a “war” between professionals. With reflections also on patients.
THE ATTACK
First, what are coin-operated doctors? And what do they do? The second question is easy to answer. “They perform exactly the same tasks as their colleagues with whom they then find themselves working side by side”, Guido Lucchini explains. However, these are professionals who are “purchased” by the health authorities to cover staff shortages that otherwise would not find an urgent solution. While urgent problems are indeed and always. Coin-operated doctors are often part of cooperatives and offer themselves on the market at exorbitant prices. They have become luxury “goods”, as typically happens where there is a shortage of supply. You need me? You pay a high bill, otherwise you are left without staff. And this is what is happening both in the Health Authority of Friuli Centrale and in the Trieste and Isonzo area. With some “flashes” also in the province of Pordenone, where the general manager Tonutti is trying to avoid other administration of token-operated personnel. «The uneven treatment that is taking place in hospitals – thunders Guido Lucchini today – is simply unacceptable and risks undermining relations between colleagues. I understand that the chronic lack of personnel also leads to this type of solution, but that is not right. We are faced with doctors who manage to receive salaries that are many times higher than those received by colleagues hired for some time in the ward ».
THE ALARM
There is also another aspect, underlined by the Pordenone president of the Order of doctors and also shared by Alberto Peratoner, representative of anesthetists. The risk, not secondary, is that “purchased” token doctors may have less experience than those employed in the wards of Friulian hospitals. All to the detriment of the patient, terminal of every health operation.
“We are in the presence of specialists who earn three times as much as their colleagues – remarks Lucchini – and who in many cases can present themselves with much less experience behind them than those used to life and work in the departments for dozens of years. This is not an equal situation and we cannot accept it ».
THE PROPOSALS
Finally, the proactive part of the protest signed by the order of doctors in Friuli Venezia Giulia. «We are sure – Guido Lucchini ends the intervention – that those who have worked in the ward for 20 years know much more than the token-operated doctors. This is why we must propose the equalization of salaries in local hospitals ».