More than the disease itself, the waiting time for a visit, a test, and a diagnosis is the patient's true enemy. The alarm was sounded during ISTAT President Francesco Maria Chelli's hearing on the budget bill before the Budget Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and once again, alarming data emerged.
Waiting so long, ultimately, is the main reason people give up on treatment (the second is the unsustainable costs of turning to private care), a social scourge that sees Sardinia as the leading region, with 17.2% of people giving up. This tragedy is especially severe for women and the elderly, low-income families, and those living far from urban centers.
A search through Cup Web demonstrates the difficulty of accessing many services, not only within an acceptable timeframe, but also in facilities close to home.
For a cardiology appointment with an electrocardiogram, the first available appointment on the island is December 13th at the former civil hospital in Thiesi, which might be fine for someone from Sassari, but if the person in need is from Cagliari, it means they'd have to travel 180 kilometers there and the same distance back.
The full article by Cristina Cossu in L'Unione Sarda, on newsstands today and on the L'Unione Digital app.
abbonati.unionesarda.it/Edicola
