Waiting lists: increasingly serious situation in the Marche according to CGIL Marche. “THE Ars data, processed by Ires Cgil, on waiting lists are not so reassuring as the Region wants us to believe; the reality is very different”, reports Loredana Longhin, regional secretary of the CGIL Marche.
The data would demonstrate that, for both priority classes under study (B i.e. Short with booking guaranteed within 10 days, and D i.e. Deferred with booking guaranteed within 30 days for visits and 60 days for instrumental exams), there is an actual increase of demand between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, i.e. between 2019 and 2023 bookings referring to the total of services with priority class B increased by 24.6% and those with priority class D observed an increase by 8.4%.
However, also due to a decrease in bookings guaranteed on time, there has been a decline in the system’s ability to guarantee the right timing of bookings based on their priority. In particular, while in 2019 87.6% of class B bookings were guaranteed within the maximum deadline, in 2023 only 66.5%. For those with priority D, the rate went from 87.1% in 2019 to 70% in 2023. “As can be seen, therefore, the capacity of the system has suffered a decline”, writes CGIL Marche in a note.
The same analysis can also be found by taking the latest available period as reference (January-April 2024) and comparing it with the same period in 2019, focusing attention on the performance relating to visits. For example, if in 2019 89.9% of class B bookings for cardiology visits were guaranteed on time, in 2024 the percentage drops to 56.1%. «Even in this case, faced with the increase in demand, the system was unable to guarantee adequate coverage for the real needs of citizens».
He declares Giuseppe Santarelli, general secretary of CGIL Marche: «The reforms prepared by the Acquaroli Council are full of holes: two years after law 19, which was supposed to reorganize the entire health system, we see how many difficulties the ASTs have in carrying out their tasks and also the Social Health Plan which, in reality, has not changed anything. Even the national decree on waiting lists will not produce any effects because there are no resources for the staff». According to estimates by the Fp Cgil, «in the Marche region, at least 1300 nurses, 560 doctors, 800 social health workers and 70 radiology technicians are missing. The Marche health system needs a new strategy and organization.”
For Loredana Longhin, «the work done by the ARS is precious despite its undersized and, with the reform of law 19, also weakened in its role. In any case, the solutions of the Region to resolve the problem are insufficient and do not convince us. The 13 million that the Region has available this year to reduce waiting lists are not enoughthe Council must put in additional resources as other Regions are doing.”
