CREMONA – That of the long waiting lists of hospitals and other public health facilities is certainly not a surprising revelation. The report that opened our eyes to the consequences that this chronic situation has on the right to health of Lombard citizens ‘Health service in Lombardy’ spread by Cisl Lombardia. One fact among all those that emerged is striking: they are six out of ten Lombards who give up on treatment because of waiting lists. The research center of the BiblioLavoro union has created an online survey to be distributed among its members, which has collected 11,520 answers.
«The data collected highlights the renunciation of treatment because of too long waiting timesdifficulties in accessing specialist visits, diagnostic tests and hospitalisations as well as shortcomings in integrated home care – he has declared Roberta Vaiaregional secretary of Cisl Lombardia —. Over six out of ten respondents have renounced, ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’, treatment during the last year». As regards the province of Cremona, it should be noted that the 56,4% of the interviewees to give up due to the long waiting times while the 34,7% he doesn’t care for the inconvenience of the structure and the 33,6% for economic reasons. The most striking figure is the one relating to visits outside the province: Cremonese people book one out of five medical exams (the 20,7%) in facilities outside our territory.
The report clearly shows how the renounces treatment is strictly linked to factors such as age and family income: if the long waiting times seem to discourage the younger ones in particular, it is instead the economic reasons to discourage people up to 55 years of age (especially women) while the inconvenience of the facilities particularly affects the over 75 age group. On the socio-economic front, the report is particularly clear in its conclusions: «The value of family income is inversely related to the forgoing of care. Only one in five interviewees with income over 50 thousand euros renunciation of treatment, in the face of two out of three in families with incomes below 15 thousand euros».
In short, the poor are the ones who give up on getting treatment the most. A snapshot of the public health system in Lombardy that for Vaia is in fact a serious deficiency in terms of the right to treatment: “When the response of the health service to health needs does not guarantee everyone that the waiting times for taking charge are adequate for the best clinical outcome of the treatment process, the choice of place and health professionals by people cannot be considered free. In fact, the main reason that pushed the interviewees to prefer paid services it was not a free choice about ‘where’ and ‘by whom’ to be treated, but a forced choice».
Obligations that push towards health services that end up weighing on citizens’ pockets (the average expenditure of Lombards for visits and hospitalizations, in 2022, was 951 euro): as regards specialist visits, for example, half of the interviewees (55,8%) has used the paid service. «The main reason that pushed the interviewees to prefer paid services it was the shorter service time (73,1%) while the possibility of choosing the doctor is relevant only for 15,3% of the interviewees». Even in Cremona, shorter waiting times are a driving force for those who turn to paid services (67,3%) but another fact stands out: the 4,5% of those interviewed, the highest percentage in the region, choose the private sector because it is recommended by friends or relatives. Public facilities are burdened by the spectre of long and uncertain timescales: «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 urgent priority; for the other priorities, short and deferrable, the failure to respect the waiting time was greater in 40% of the cases».
CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DATA
