A sudden, seemingly trivial pain that turns into an obstacle course through clinics, wasted waits, and unavailable departments. This is yet another story emerging from the profound crisis in Sardinia's healthcare system, and one that recently involved an 11-year-old girl and her mother, residents of a center in Baronia .
It all began when the little girl complained of severe pain in her foot . Worried, her mother decided to consult her pediatrician. "After examining her," she says, "and not noticing anything in particular that could lead to a diagnosis, he prescribed us a specialist visit with an ultrasound ." A step that seemed simple, almost routine. But that's precisely where the process got stuck. When it came time to book the exam, the woman encountered the first obstacle: the CUP. "I called, but they told me the lists for this type of visit were full and that we would have to wait a long time ." A wait that the little girl, however, could not afford. In the following days, the pain increased until it became unbearable. At that point , the mother decided to take her daughter to the hospital in Nuoro . "I wish I had never done it," she says, "because that trip turned into a nightmare." When they arrived at the hospital, they discovered that there was no pediatric emergency room . Heading toward the general ward, mother and daughter found themselves walking through crowded corridors, among patients already undergoing treatment. "They made us pass through the inner section," she continues, "among stretchers with people moaning and others bleeding. It was a scene that terrified my daughter, who burst into tears and trembling."
After hours of waiting and no answers, the woman decides to leave . Her next attempt is at the hospital in Olbia . At least there's a pediatric emergency room there. "The doctors sent us to surgery," the mother continues, "but we were turned away because, according to them, the problem was in orthopedics." However, the department was unreachable : the doctors were busy in the operating room. Another closed door, another wasted day. Mother and daughter return home without a diagnosis, while the pain worsens, to the point of preventing the little girl from walking. An odyssey that still has no end, a story that, beyond the individual case, starkly illustrates the daily struggles of those who find themselves dealing with a struggling healthcare system.
Fabrizio Ungredda
