" From February, the 128-slice CT scan will be available to patients ." It was January 2024 , and the ASL's plans were ambitious and optimistic. A year and a half later, that state-of-the-art machine is down or underutilized due to a lack of radiologists. " It's been down for several months now ," observes Giampiero Sulis, radiologist and territorial secretary of the UGL. " There aren't enough specialists ; right now, the Corpo P only does ultrasounds and breast examinations."
The A&E CT scan remains in operation for those arriving from the emergency room and for residents; only in cases of extreme urgency does it take on outpatients. "It's inconceivable that the CT scan in the area is at a standstill," adds Sulis. "There's no plan, nor a vision for the hospital. " ASL Special Commissioner Federico Argiolas confirms that "the CT scan is fully functional. Unfortunately, the shortage of radiologists, now a structural problem and common to other departments, currently prevents its full utilization."
Problems also arose with the MRI. "The machine has been installed and is currently being tested," the commissioner added. "It will be operational after the operators have been trained, well before December 31st, the deadline set by the project funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Together with Ares, we are working to ensure that the first cases are admitted as early as this month."
Radiology is in dire straits: two specialists will soon be leaving, the staff is reduced to six doctors and the head physician (but three of them don't work nights) . Presumably, the way out of the impasse will be to recruit external consultants who, for the same performance, earn a much higher salary than permanent staff.
Finally, it is strange, as the unions point out, that the community hospital in Ghilarza (where there is no emergency room) has 3 radiologists and Bosa 2.