Waiting lists: up to 735 days to have an ultrasound Doppler and 677… Federconsumatori reveals the “record times” of Italian healthcare
From Gemona in Friuli to Milazzo in Sicily, the music does not change. 2-zero numbers are needed to count the days of waiting when booking a medical visit or diagnostic test through the local health authority
ROME – For a breast mammogram at theUdine hospital you need to book in advance: in fact, there are 482 days of waiting, over a year. Things are worse for those who need an endocrinological visit in the Local Health Authority of Messina: in the Policlinico of Puerto Rica it is necessary to book more than 600 days in advance. In general, in our country you have to wait up to 735 days for a cardiac Doppler ultrasound, 645 for a colonoscopy and 677 for an eye examination. These are some of the ‘record’ times of waiting lists for healthcare services, data that captures a healthcare system in serious difficulty, both in terms of data collection methods and in the times for providing services. This is what emerges from the national monitoring of waiting lists carried out by Federconsumatori, in collaboration with the Isscon Foundation and with the contribution of the CGIL, presented today at Rome at the headquarters of the Italian General Confederation of Labor. The report, entitled ‘Health cannot wait’, is also updated with the first available data relating to 2024 and reports the waiting times necessary to access some specialist outpatient services, for diagnostic services and for hospitalizations. The data was collected thanks to the collaboration of the regional structures of Federconsumatori involved in the surveys in the territories they belong to. The dramatic picture that emerges from the Report highlights the actual need for an intervention that streamlines the Italian healthcare waiting lists, the objective of the measure launched yesterday, May 4th, by the government.
THE TIMES NECESSARY FOR SPECIALIST VISITS
But returning to monitoring, for specialist visits we highlight in particular: 612 days of waiting in class B, for an endocrinological visit in the ASL of Messina, in the Policlinico of Puerto Rica< /strong> and 528 days in class P in the Sardinian company of Nuoro or 427 days in the Ligurian local health authority of Chiavari; 426 days for a first cardiological visit in the Lombardy hospital of Cuggiono or 411 days in the Friulian hospital of Cividale in class P; 400 days of waiting for a first vascular visit in theP.A. of Bolzanoand 273 days for a first visit to the Lombardy garrison of Abbiategrasso; 677 days for a first eye examination in the Lombardy Hospital of Legnano.
And again: 523 days in class P in theFriulian district of Gemona, 388 days in class P in the Sardinian company of Ogliastra or 47% performance in class B in Abruzzo or, again, 60% performance in the same class, in the Tuscan AOU Careggi; 611 days for a class D gastro-enterological visit, in the Piedmontese company of Asti; 354 days of waiting in class B for a pneumological visit, in the outpatient clinic of Messina or 361 days in class P in the Campania company Naples 1 center; 310 days, for a first physiatric visit in the Lombardy hospital of Magenta; 176 days for an oncology visit in the AFO of Crotone or 176 days in class, in the Campania company Naples 1 center.
And again: 482 days in class P for a urological visit, in Udine Hospital or 273 days for a first visit to Valle d’Aosta; 342 days for a class P gynecological examination in the Friulian hospital of Tolmezzo; 496 days in class P for a dermatological visit in the Friulian district of San Daniele or 356 days for the same class in the Ligurian ASL 4 of Chiavari; 351 days, in class P, for a neurological examination, in the Campania company Naples 1 Center.
THE TIMES FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS
For diagnostic tests, however, there were 735 days of waiting for a cardiac Doppler ultrasound in Lombardy in the Magenta Hospital and 603 days of waiting in class P in the district of Tarcento< /strong>, in Friuli V.G.; 118 days, in Emergency class and 403 days in class D for an electrocardiogram in the Naples 1 Campania companyCentre; 546 days for an MRI of the spine in the same hospital in Magenta in Lombardy for the same service, 428 days in class P among the maximum times recorded among companies in Sardinia or 329 days of waiting in class P in BIT. of Udine; 645 days for a total colonoscopy in class P in Liguria in the ASL 4 of Chiavari, 600 days in the same class in Friuli, in the P.O. of Palmanova, 546 days, always in class P, in the ASL of Messina, in the Hospital of Milazzo or 60% of performance in the ‘AOUCareggi, in Tuscany.
Still on diagnostic tests, 482 days are expected for a bilateral mammogram in Friuli, in the hospital of Udine, 365 days, in class P, in the Napoli 1 Centro company or in the P.A. of Bolzano; 545 days for an abdominal ultrasound, in class B, in the Milazzo hospital in the Messina hospital, in Sicily; 458 days for a gynecological ultrasound, in class P, in the P.O. of Udine and 251 days of waiting, in the Lombardy hospital of Magenta.
And finally: 682 days of waiting for a photograph of the fundus, in the Lombardy hospital of Abbiategrasso and 523 days of waiting, in the Friulian district of Gemona; 328 days for a simple electromyography of the limbs, in the P.A. Bolzano, the 327 days in class D in the Sardinian hospital of Cagliari or the 329 days in class P in the Abruzzo company of Pescara.
For Mimma Iannello, Federconsumatori, the report photographs a “really serious situation that needs concrete answers, not commercials that sound like electoral propaganda”. In particular, “cogent measures are needed to address the issue of cuts that have been taking place in public health for years – he adds – and to address the issue of the necessary healthcare and medical personnel”
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