"Due to the insufficiency of the funds allocated by the Region for the affiliated activities, from today until the end of the month the examinations will be entirely at the expense of the patients ". It is one of the many signs that have been posted up in Sardinia's private analysis and diagnostic laboratories for a few days. A refrain that has been repeated for years and which inevitably affects the health of Sardinians.
The services for the exempt for pathology or income are carried out in the first 10-15 days, then those who want to book laboratory tests or specific tests must hope that that laboratory has not exhausted the budget or pay for it out of their own pocket. Many patients complain but health is not controlled and they pay for the urgency. Others, especially those who cannot afford substantial disbursements in this period of crisis, postpone the analyzes to the following month. Still others try to turn to public facilities. A discomfort especially for the elderly and chronically ill.
"We are very sorry for these inconveniences but it is a situation that has been going on for some time and that this year has worsened - explains Enrico Tinti, Sardinian contact person for the coordination of private analysis laboratories - the fund that serves to cover the needs of patients it is underestimated and this year, out of about 50 million, we have already been running out for months. The past few years we reached this point in October, but this year since February we have unfortunately had to block the activities under the convention at the beginning of each month, otherwise the budget would have ended in May or June ".
The Coordination complains that in 2022, moreover, the fund was reduced on the basis of the historical expenditure of 2019, but in the meantime there was a pandemic and now the requests from patients are more numerous. "The average percentage of outpatient specialist expenditure in Sardinia is 2.5% compared to 5% in the rest of Italy - adds Tinti - last year additional resources were allocated as part of the program to reduce the lists of waiting but this year there is not an extra euro, despite our letters to the Region before the summer ". "We are sorry and I know that sometimes discounts are also offered to meet patients but more is impossible because we risk seeing the laboratories themselves go into crisis, given that the increases in bills and materials have also affected this sector. we are faced with a phenomenon of dispersion of diagnosis and treatment - concludes Tinti -, because laboratories are the first step in diagnosis and perform screening ".
(Unioneonline / EC)
