There are thirty thousand Sardinians who risk , within a few weeks, losing their family doctor after the large number of white coats retiring . A gap in healthcare which has its consequences felt for thousands of people on the island. What is happening now is that the doctors in question (at least thirty, Fimmg has calculated) are young specialists who responded to the Region's call and agreed to work in the inland countries , guaranteeing assistance from the health service public in those disadvantaged locations where no one wants to go.
They each have a thousand patients in their care, in areas where the nearest hospital is tens of kilometers away and where the number of people giving up treatment is higher. The problem? It is linked to the organization of the specialization course in general medicine which combines lesson hours with training in the field , in hospital and in the clinic of a general practitioner tutor. It was like this before the wave of retirements which left many offices uncovered, so much so that a couple of years ago the Ministry recruited young specialist doctors, guaranteeing them the possibility of combining school with patient care. From this year, however, in Sardinia we have returned to the old ways, and - for the specialists who responded to the call for open locations - the workload in the clinic, home visits, prescriptions and processing of documents, they add lessons at school and internships.
" It is humanly impossible to cope with everything ," warns Umberto Nevisco, secretary of Fimmg, the federation of general practitioners. "If the councilor does not intervene as soon as possible, these young colleagues will be forced to give up their patients ." Suddenly thirty thousand Sardinians will lose their doctor, the union has calculated.
Piera Serusi
