While plans to reduce waiting lists and a new single booking center that includes all the services of public and private hospitals are still being discussed in the Region, in Como you have to wait more than two years to have an eye exam.
Age-old problem
The age-old topic is well known to the people of Como, who are often busy booking medical checks and tests. For example, at the beginning of the week Mrs White Alvaro knocked on the doors of the Lariana Asst to ask for an initial eye examination. From the counters in via Napoleona we heard that the first free position is in May 2026. The retired woman, not wanting to wait that long, turned to a private firm which made her available within a few days.
There was, let’s be clear, no urgency, the lady has a programmable prescription in her hand, which therefore expires within 120 days, or four months, but two years of waiting seems really too long. It is true that the lady was also offered a visit to the Menaggio hospital, but in any case in the spring of 2025.
From the former hospital company, which apologizes for what happened, they explain that given the long wait the staff should have helped the patient to look for another solution elsewhere, that is, to see if in the other public and private hospitals of Como and Varese ( the territory of the ATS) there are places within the times of the recipe. Otherwise in practice the prescription is “retained and sent to the offices which schedule an appointment in the following days”.
However, Mrs. Alvaro is in good company, there are several reports coming from readers, the wait for an eye exam is more than a year long even at Valduce.
The reason, the hospitals explain, is the lack of staff, not only within the departments, but also in the freelance sector. In addition to ophthalmology, as we know, branches such as dermatology are also in crisis, where you have to wait days even in the private sector, the few specialists left in business are overwhelmed by requests. In light of the low rates recognized by the public system, even for tests such as colonoscopy there is a long queue to queue, it is not worth providing this type of service to private individuals and accredited people.
To improve this situation which has been dragging on for some years now, the regional councilor for Welfare Guido Bertolaso announced that the council will present a resolution on Monday to impose on clinics and hospitals, both public and private, a minimum number of health services to be provided within the year. And within the year Bertolaso plans to launch the famous single booking centre, which in truth, according to the latest declarations, should have started as early as January at least in some territories. Having said that this new and more efficient Cup has been discussed for years without a solution.
The token holders
Bertolaso, however, hopes to find a solution with the token doctors to whom he had given a stop. The Region has started a dialogue with the main cooperative which provided external doctors also in the Comasco area with very high hourly wages, provided that this cooperative withdraws the appeal brought against the regional resolution in view of a possible and fairer collaboration.
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