Over two years of waiting for the necessary surgery to resolve a urological problem, only to be told: "The operation can no longer be performed here in Sassari." Another odyssey in public healthcare. This is the still-unfinished ordeal of a 61-year-old man, resident in Porto Torres. On February 28, 2023, the patient was discharged for renal calcification, but doctors recommended a specialist exam. This was performed on October 23 of that year and confirmed on November 9, which confirmed the condition and prescribed the necessary clinical tests for the surgery. The diagnosis was clear from an ultrasound of the urinary tract, and on January 22, 2024, the urology clinic at the AOU Stecca Bianca hospital in Sassari placed the 61-year-old on the waiting list for pre-hospitalization. Before undergoing the operation, the man had to undergo several private medical visits and a series of public referrals.
"After undergoing a paid clinical examination, they booked me for the removal procedure, with the guarantee of performing it as a day case within six months of January 2024," explains the patient, recounting the long and complex story. After 180 days, he began knocking again at the clinic, Stecca Bianca complex, to ask if there was any news. "There are no anesthesiologists," they replied, "he will be called for the procedure soon." The situation went from manageable to complicated, and the pain worsened as time went by.
A whole year, 2024, passed without a response. On June 9, 2025, the doctors scheduled a preliminary visit for the surgery, an appointment to undergo laboratory and urine tests with the anesthesiologist, at the Blood Collection Center in Palazzo Clemente, at the AOU San Pietro clinics in Sassari. Before the long-awaited "call," on December 22, 2025, the man felt ill and went to the emergency room suffering from severe pain. The doctors at the urology clinic prescribed the treatment he needed before the long-awaited surgery. The patient was sent home with the cryptic phrase: "We'll see about speeding things up."
"The difference is that this time they re-prescribed all the clinical tests I'd already had," he explains, "because too much time had passed since the last tests." Another round of visits began. On January 14, 2026, a new nightmare began. Following the Doppler ultrasound, the urological problem was found to have worsened. "So they advised me to contact the Conti Outpatient Clinic in Sassari, where a few days later they issued me the report, which I took to the Stecca Bianca hospital again. The doctors consulted and told me there were no beds available and they could no longer perform the procedure: I'd have to go to another hospital in Cagliari." A bitter response that led the 61-year-old to seek refuge in private care "for a healthcare system that is increasingly less public."