'Nightmare' waiting lists of citizens who turn to the National Health Service: two years for a screening mammogram, three months for surgery for uterine cancer which had to be carried out within a month, two months for an urgent gynecological specialist visit to be scheduled within 72 hours, again two months for a cardiological check-up from carry out within 10 days. Waiting lists are the greatest concern of Italians regarding public healthcare and one of the main causes of giving up treatment, a growing phenomenon, for those who cannot go to private healthcare. Patient reports were collected by Cittadinanzattiva in 2023 and paint a disheartening picture.
Times of first specialist visits
Regarding waiting times for first specialist visits with a priority code, which should be guaranteed within 10 days, citizens' reports to the association report waiting up to 60 days for the first cardiology, endocrinology, oncology and pneumology visit. Without a priority code, you end up waiting 360 days for an endocrinology visit and 300 for a cardiology one. An urgent gynecological specialist visit (to be carried out within 72 hours) was scheduled 60 days after the request. “I contacted the CUP in my region because I had to arrange an initial urgent cardiological visit – explains a patient who reported her case to the association – the doctor wrote the code U (urgent) on the prescription, the CUP could not find any structure where I could carry out the visit within 72 hours and advised me to go to a private facility. Is it right that I have to pay for these expenses?”, he asks.
Diagnostic performance
As regards waiting times for diagnostic services, Cittadinanzattiva was reported to be 150 days for a mammogram (with a priority code to be carried out within 10 days) and 730 days for a programmable mammogram. And it takes a whole year for a gastroscopy with biopsy in which priority is not indicated. For an operation for uterine cancer that had to be carried out within 30 days, the patient waited 90 days, 3 times as long as expected. For a hip replacement operation, to be carried out within 60 days, there was a wait of 120 days, double the maximum expected time.
The number of citizens who are giving up treatment is growing
The data indicates that almost all the Regions have not recovered the services delayed due to the pandemic, and not all have used the 500 million fund allocated in 2022 for the recovery of waiting lists. About 33% were not used, for a total of 165 million.
Furthermore, ISTAT surveys show a reduction in the share of people who have carried out specialist visits in 2022 (from 42.3% in 2019 to 38.8% in 2022) or diagnostic tests (from 35.7% to 32.0%). %), in the South the latter reduction reaches 5 percentage points. Compared to 2019, the share of those who declare having paid entirely at their own expense for both specialist visits (from 37% to 41.8% in 2022) and diagnostic tests (from 23% to 27.6% in 2022) increases.
While, as revealed in a recent Salutequità survey, the level of renunciation of care among citizens who would have needed it in 2022 (Istat – latest public data available) has worsened compared to that of 2019 (pre pandemic): from 6.3% from 2019 it went to 7% in 2022, with an increase of 0.7 percentage points. The regional differences in 2022 are also significant. They go from 12.3% of people giving up treatment in Sardinia to 9.6% in Piedmont, and down to 4.7% in Campania.
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