"Neurorehabilitation in Sardinia is collapsing. Patients at risk and equipment abandoned, the government must respond." A vital healthcare network literally dismantled, with seriously ill patients forced into improper hospitalizations or "journeys of hope," and state-of-the-art equipment left to gather dust. This is the complaint of regional councilor Alessandro Sorgia, FdI , who has filed an urgent question addressed to the regional president and the health councilor to shed light on the "disastrous state" of neurorehabilitation on the island.
The inspection report highlights significant critical issues that, according to the councilor, jeopardize Sardinian citizens' right to healthcare. He speaks of " ignored needs ": "In the face of an estimated need for 50 beds for the recovery of patients with severe brain injuries," Sorgia explains, "the current supply is limited to just 22 operating stations, scattered between Oristano and Gallura." He then speaks of the " paralysis of Cagliari's excellence ." The historic Brotzu facility, established in 2008 and crucial for decongesting intensive care units, "is currently in a state of absolute uncertainty, lacking official guidance," Sorgia notes, who then denounces the "waste of public resources": "Electromedical equipment and specialist furnishings, worth over one hundred thousand euros, are currently abandoned to deteriorate in non-compliant warehouses."
He then laments the " staff emergency in Oristano " where "The failure to renew the collaborative agreements with the Oristano company has left the San Martino hub with only three medical units, paralysing night shifts and offloading emergencies onto non-specialised personnel" and the "Unacceptable clinical risks" for which "Recent hypotheses of transferring the service to peripheral facilities are risky, as they would deprive patients of the immediate support of life-saving departments such as Resuscitation and Neurosurgery".
In the inquiry, Sorgia demands immediate answers regarding the real reasons that led to the breakdown of the agreement with Oristano and the measures to restore 24-hour coverage, as well as a clear timeline for the reopening of the highly specialized department in Cagliari in a suitable facility. Finally, he demands an investigation into the alleged financial losses caused by the abandoned equipment, and a clear strategy to address the dramatic shortage of hospital beds throughout Sardinia. " We cannot tolerate the dispersion of professional skills and the unloading of institutional disorganization on extremely vulnerable patients ," the document concludes. "The Region must immediately implement the directives and fill this healthcare gap."
(Unioneonline/En.Ne.)
