Santu Lussurgiu, patients forced to wake up at 3 am to queue at Ascot

Serious socio-health situation in Santu Lussurgiu left with only one general practitioner and with the Ascot service in fits and starts, creating many inconveniences for thousands of patients who were left without assistance due to the retirement of the general practitioner, Vittorio Farci. However, the opening of Ascot last March in the Luxurious clinic did not resolve the difficulties of patients, who were forced to wake up even in the middle of the night, at 3am, to queue for a simple prescription or for a demanding one from a specialist doctor . This was reported by opposition group leader Giovanni Matta who posed the question to Mayor Diego Loi in the city council.

«The healthcare system is no longer able to guarantee minimum services. Following the retirement of one of the two GPs, patient care has significantly reduced and the Ascot service continues in fits and starts with doctor attendance shifts often changed. On the days when the doctor is present, the supervision of the clinic, which lasts for hours and hours, begins well before the rooster crows, thus generating a further stressful condition for the patients."

Situation at the limit: «All this is unacceptable and this precarious situation is no longer tolerable – insists Matta -. The Luxurious community, like many inland communities, is characterized by a high percentage of people over sixty-five with the problems and ailments that old age brings. The quality of care will further worsen when, before long, the only GP still present retires. A strong initiative from the Loi executive towards the ASL and the competent regional department is necessary to overcome this difficult situation."

The ASL 5 of Oristano claims that «the ASCOT pilot project, started just over a year ago, must be supported and carried forward, because at the moment it represents the only effective response to the crisis of local medicine, which concerns the entire nation ».

If nothing changes quickly, the minority group will launch "a strong mobilization initiative", concludes Matta.