« No downsizing of health services and, much less, no chaos in the Complex Oncology and Hematology Structure of the San Martino hospital in Oristano. But rather a strengthening of the same, supported by the growing numbers of 2022 and 2023". This is what was declared by the health director of ASL 5, Dr. Antonio Maria Pinna and the director of the same Complex Oncology Structure, Dr. Luigi Curreli, after the alarm launched yesterday by the regional councilor of the 5 Star Movement Alessandro Solinas . According to the words of the Five Star Movement, in fact, follow-ups in the hospital would have been frozen and the number of beds would have been reduced.
But the data provided by the Local Health Authority show a very different situation: in 2023 the total numbers of visits between Day Hospital and outpatient services were 18,276, 32% more than in 2022 (13,830). Data even better than the pre-Covid period, 15772 in 2019, with an increase of 15 percent. «The considerable increase in requests – explain Curreli and Pinna – does not currently allow follow-up according to the previous timescales. However, we are talking about patients who have already recovered , for whom recurrence is not just around the corner and in any case, at the moment, it appears unlikely. No choice is ever made at the patient's risk, but taking into account the procedures and timing required by international health protocols." However, delays are not recorded even in the case of patients suffering from cancer : «The latter – continue the two directors – are in fact taken care of immediately by our Structure through the new Services Reception Centre, which already has 34 first diagnosis patients taken in load in the last quarter. It is worth remembering, in this regard, that the Cas of Oristano is one of only three centers of this type operating in Sardinia today, together with that of Nuoro and the Brotzu hospital in Cagliari. An experimental center specifically desired by the regional health department, a choice that recognizes the high quality of the Oristano oncology service developed over time, with the task of making assistance to the newly diagnosed cancer patient easier in his therapeutic and welfare". It should be noted that the notable increase in Day Hospital activities "has made it necessary, as a strategic choice, to extend the follow-up visits of recovered patients over time, but who still remain under observation", concludes Curreli.
