The results of a survey conducted among members of the regional CISL on the “Health Service in Lombardy” were presented in Milana work edited by BiblioLavoro, the trade union organization’s study center. Fabio Nava, deputy general secretary of Cisl Lombardia, and Guido Bertolaso, regional councilor for Welfare, spoke at the initiative.
“In recent years – said Nava (into the microphone in the photo) explaining the reasons for the initiative – we have received numerous reports and requests relating to the topic of healthcare from the various Lombardy territories. Hence the choice of the online survey to collect the evaluations of CISL Lombardy members in a structured manner. From the questionnaire on regional healthcare, one of the critical issues most felt by our members is that of waiting lists, but the problematic elements also concern many other aspects”.
Below we report in extreme synthesis the main findings of the survey which in its entirety can be downloaded by clicking on the link: Health Service in Lombardy – The survey among CISL members
Renunciation of treatment
Over six out of ten members have given up on treatment in the last year. Waiting times are the main reason for giving up treatment. Almost one out of two interviewees gave up treatment for economic reasons and over four out of ten for reasons related to the physical or organizational inconvenience of the health facilities.
Visits and exams, between public and private
More than half of the interviewees used paid specialist visits. Of those who had paid outpatient services, eight out of ten used private facilities. Similarly, of those who had at least one exam in 2023, one in three used private facilities affiliated with the Health Service and almost one in four had exams in private facilities. Overall, of those who had paid instrumental diagnostic services, more than eight out of ten used private facilities.
The waiting times
The maximum waiting time foreseen by the priority code indicated in the doctor’s request was not respected in almost half of the outpatient specialist visits with priority U (urgent); for the other priorities B (short) and D (deferrable) the failure to respect the waiting time was greater in 40% of the cases.
The maximum waiting times were not respected in 44.5% of the exams indicated as urgent.
For exams with a 10-day priority and for those with a 60-day priority, delivery was subsequent, respectively, in 40.3% and 18.0% of cases.
In scheduled hospitalizations, 74.5% respected the priority classes, one in four did not.
The waiting time in the emergency room between taking charge of the patient and admission to the ward was on average eight hours, with peaks of up to 48 hours.
Chronicity and home care
Among patients with chronic diseases, the renunciation of treatment is numerous: about one in two people gave up treatment due to the inconvenience of the facilities or for economic reasons, while two in three people gave up due to waiting times. 7.2% of the interviewees resorted to integrated home care measures: of these, nine out of ten activated the ADI for a family member. Only 2.1% of the subjects with 3 or more chronic diseases declared that they had activated home care. Home care was mainly activated through the family doctor in more than seven cases out of ten, in the rest of the cases it was a protected discharge following a hospitalization. The opinions of the interviewees who had benefited from a home care path, although overall quite positive, are critical regarding waiting times.
Family spending on health care
The average value of spending on healthcare for each family increases with increasing income and age. The average expenditure in 2023 for visits, tests and hospitalizations was 951 euros, while that for other healthcare expenses (pharmaceuticals, dentistry, physiotherapy, etc.) was 1,184 euros.
