Excessive heat and patients in the corridors: alarm raised by the San Francesco Hospital in Nuoro.

The heat was unbearable everywhere, with a few fans trying (unsuccessfully) to provide some relief. And the staff and patients—hospitalized in the corridors— were exhausted.

The serious situation at San Francesco di Nuoro emerges from the complaint filed by the Nursing Up union, through city representative Francesco Carta and regional manager Diego Murracino.

The most critical situations are reported in Geriatrics, with a temperature of 31 degrees and 50 hospitalized patients – 10 of whom were in the corridor –, Medicine and Infectious Diseases with a temperature of 28.7 C° and 42 patients present against the 31 available beds, Nephrology, with a temperature of 31 C°, Dialysis with 28.7 C° and the Emergency Room with 29 C°.

The critical issues are the same as always: insufficient staffing, increasing hospitalizations, shifts increasingly difficult to fill, and healthcare workers forced to work tirelessly to ensure continued care.

Francesco Carta takes stock of the situation: "We can't work safely to ensure patient care at these temperatures.
The crisis is further complicated by the heat and the lack of beds in the corridors, as well as a significant staff shortage. This means," the union representative continues, "that the system, in order to function, ends up increasingly dependent on professionals' availability to work beyond regular hours. The nursing shortage is becoming increasingly severe and risks putting difficulties not only in the inpatient wards but also in some particularly sensitive services."

Murracino addressed the Health Councilor directly: "Citizens' right to health and workers' health protection must be guaranteed ."

(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)