Regional Council of Puglia – Healthcare Taranto, Perrini: “The serious shortage of healthcare workers cannot burden patients”

Note from the regional councilor of Fratelli d’Italia, Renato Perrini, vice president of the Health Commission.
“Puglia’s healthcare system is collapsing. And within a bleak regional picture, the Ionian health service is increasingly in decline. The lack of nurses and doctors has been known for some time and our Taranto area has also been overwhelmed by this wave of voluntary resignations and the company’s lack of commitment to replacing the pension turnover. The nursing shortage in Puglia and in particular in Taranto has never been so serious. Even more serious is the fact that the ASL TA does not announce competitions and public notices for the recruitment of nursing and medical-health personnel, while the ASL BA has announced selective procedures outside the regional indications, thus generating de facto unequal treatment. The most disturbing aspect is that in Taranto there is a lack of rankings not only for the hiring of permanent staff, but also rankings, together with public notices, for the recruitment of fixed-term nurses who can replace absent staff in case of accident, illness or pregnancy, in short, there is a lack of nurses who can be hired even if they are able to hire. In addition to the shortage of nurses, there are also shortages of midwives, social health workers, administrative and prevention staff and rehabilitation technicians. A paradox that certifies the programmatic inefficiency of the Region. Nurses report working exhausting, long and hectic shifts and being forced to work overtime hours every day due to staff shortages. They also report that they have not had the opportunity to take holidays for months and, since it is difficult to be absent from work given the need to guarantee assistance despite the insufficient staff, they point out that the only way to rest is to call in sick.
For these reasons, nurses complain that they are in poor physical and mental conditions. For this reason, I asked for a meeting with the director of the Health Department, Vito Montanaro, in order to find joint solutions to address this emergency adequately”./press release