CORIGLIAN ROSSANO after thepandemic emergency caused by Covid-19 it seems that the situation is gradually improving. From the feedback that comes from hospitals, from the ISS and from the Epi, it can be stated that the critical moment is now behind us and that we can finally look to the future with optimism. The hope is that the lessons on how to deal with viruses and unexpected events that threaten public health have been learned.
To talk about these and other issues concerning the reorganization of provincial health we have invited Martin Rizzo, medical director of the provincial health agency of Cosenza, guest atLive Echothe talk hosted by Mark Lefossebroadcast on L’altro Corriere TV.
What does Covid leave us
“Viruses – says Rizzo – live with us and within us. We know that they have no interest in eliminating us because that would mean their demise. Viruses then change continuously, we just have to learn to treat them and live with them. With prevention and contrast measures (hand washing, distancing and vaccination) we have managed to overcome this phase. Today there are still 25 hospitalized but the situation is stable, we will continue to manage it as we have done in the last period».
Covid has prompted the entire health system to rethink itself, trying to deal with the emergency with often inadequate tools, structures and personnel. What remains in terms of organization and services?
«It certainly remains a structure. We now have a facility for patients with respiratory problems that we didn’t have before. It leaves us with good expertise in the matter because our pulmonologists have learned to treat this and other diseases. In perspective, we are also left with the improvement of territorial health care which has been lacking almost everywhere, not only in our area, and which we are trying to re-establish. Thanks to this drive, we will look at a new model of territorial health carewith the hope that it will become possible not only at a structural level (building) but in terms of supply and quality».
“Deficient communication on vaccines”
These past few years have indelibly marked the national health system and all the decisions taken cannot fail to take into account the emergency experienced. In common feeling, vaccines have been the most effective tool for overcoming the emergency phase, but an aura of mystery still remains around the risks of indiscriminate and sweeping administration that took place in recent months. The communication during those months was very bad.
«On vaccines, communication has certainly been deficient. When a person gets vaccinated, as with any drug, he needs to know that he is facing possible side effects. Let’s not forget that one type of vaccine was abandoned because it caused side effects that endangered patients; no one has thought of continuing to propose or administer it. What we can say, however, is that fears about the vaccine have nothing to do with Covid, a long scientific parenthesis should be opened on the functioning of the administered vaccine. The mistake was to attribute the onset of any symptom or disease to the vaccine. Aifa is still evaluating and studying case by case to see if the reported effects are related to the vaccine but has not yet expressed itself. We must consider that in that period we had nothing to be able to deal with the disease, the vaccine was the only hope and it helped us overcome the subsequent waves ».
«Short of doctors after 10 years of commissioner»
Another discomfort that emerged during the months of the pandemic was the shortage of doctors, from us to the alarming limits, which still persists. «Dabbing thanks to the goodwill of someone offering their availability is one thing, resolving the situation is another. We have to keep in mind that we come from 10 years of commissioner and 3 of the pandemic. People haven’t taken care of themselves, in recent years, for fear of the covid. Now a series of urgencies and requests are accumulating that we are unable to deal with with only the available staff. The situation will not be resolved soon and the solutions adopted leave the time they find. The latest decree, then, will allow us to include non-specialized personnel in the workforce that we are now wondering where he is».
The “token” is worth it. «If you spend one night, it’s 1,200 euros…»
We cannot, however, fail to draw attention to an oddity concerning recruitment. The contests announced are few, many go deserted but when it comes up “the token” the doctors rush. Maybe it’s a salary issue? “You have to consider that a coin acceptor, today, earns 100 euros gross per hour – explains Rizzo -. If you spend one night it’s 1200 euros and if you spend more than one (sometimes even consecutively) you earn in a few days what a doctor earns at the beginning of his career in a whole month.
So it’s worth it. «For this reason, the new ministerial decree aims to put a stop to this practice of the token by making it temporary (it cannot last more than a year) so as to limit this system. But will we succeed? I don’t know. Here there are two cooperatives that work for the ASP, one is that of paediatricians and the other is that of anesthesiologists who provide a limited number of services. We recently announced a competition for 7 paediatricians in which only 5 doctors participated».
Is there connivance? «We checked that there were no particular situations. With this decree we are also trying to curb this type of “games”.
«Out of 30,000 accesses to the Emergency Department, white codes are a third»
Our territory suffers from the overcrowded emergency departments but from a recent survey it has been realized that many arrive in code white, and in any case not in danger of life. If local medicines and medical guards worked, this phenomenon would probably decrease. «Unfortunately, until there is an adequate territorial health offer, the problem will remain. We have estimated that out of 30,000 accesses a year to the Corigliano-Rossano Ps, 1/3 are blank codes. This means that legitimate accesses would drop to 20,000, a certainly more manageable number. We are trying to tackle this problem by strengthening territorial health care. Thanks to the doctors’ associations that cover several shifts, patients become everyone’s”.
What is missing from the Spoke of Corigliano Rossano
Il Dca n. 56 will it change the fate of the Corigliano-Rossano Spoke? «The situation shouldn’t change much because the departments that exist must remain active and open. We are trying to equip these structures and departments with Primary. Plus you need a Presidium Director which must have a departmental mentality so as to make the departments collaborate in order to improve services and make up for any shortcomings”.
And on the remodeling of the two principals? «If in three years’ time we will have the new hospital, as we hope, it makes no sense to invest so much in these structures. Rethinking the two hospitals means creating a hot and a cold area in which the spaces must be adjusted and the equipment transferred. Given that the last obstacle that has arisen for the single hospital seems to have been overcome, there is no reason to reprogram the places in this sense ».
Reassurances also come for the birth point which absolutely cannot ask: «Our hospital gives birth to more than 700 babies a year, who cannot in any way be diverted to Cosenza (already at the limit). I asked Dr. Gigli to still guarantee us his presence as long as he can». Finally, on thalassemia patients, we will try to solicit those responsible so that we can regain the possibility of prescription in our centers.