They're few—half as many as expected—and so far they've been covering shifts by working a flurry of overtime. However, they haven't been paid since January (at best). The nurses working inside Uta prison have decided to stop working in protest: either a solution to the dispute over their overtime is found by tomorrow , or they'll stick to their regular work schedule, effectively leaving hundreds of inmates without healthcare.
The dire situation inside the Ettore Scalas prison is described by the director of prison medicine, Gianfranco Carboni, in a letter sent to the heads of the Cagliari Local Health Authority. This situation is set to worsen given the announcement of the imminent arrival of 92 "41 Bis" (prisoner-inmate groups), who would join the 740 inmates (well beyond the prison's capacity).
"The serious shortage of nursing staff is now well known, and has so far been addressed through the use of additional services formally requested from the company," the statement reads. But " unfortunately, despite repeated requests for payment of accrued fees, a blockage has occurred in the company's organizational and administrative procedures."
The nurses have communicated that they are no longer available to perform additional services, which "have been unpaid since last January and, in some cases, even since the last months of the previous year."
This situation makes it impossible to guarantee coverage for a significant number of detention units (approximately 130 inmates per unit), resulting in a level of nursing care that falls below minimum safety standards. Round-the-clock healthcare is, in fact, an essential and mandatory service, indispensable for guaranteeing the right to health protection of the inmate population and the overall safety of the prison.
Available nursing resources have been reduced by approximately 50%, while the prison population has reached 740 , "with a possible further increase of 92 following the arrival of inmates subject to the regime set forth in Article 41-bis of the Penitentiary System."
The director warns that "if continuity of healthcare is not guaranteed, thereby inevitably compromising the right to health care of inmates at the Uta Prison, this health management will be forced to formally notify the competent authorities, including the prison administration, the prison management, and the Surveillance Court, so that each can take the appropriate measures."
