Unions slam the government: "Healthcare is on the brink. Changes must be made now, or we'll defend the Sardinians at all costs."

The commitments were "clear" and the objectives "verifiable." But nothing has changed since August 4th, when the Sardinian CGIL, CISL, and UIL unions signed a protocol with President Alessandra Todde Todde and Health Councilor Armando Bartolazzi to bring about a turning point in the dramatic situation of the regional healthcare system.

There hasn't been a breakthrough, according to a joint statement from general secretaries Fausto Durante, Pier Luigi Ledda, and Fulvia Murru: "The reality faced by citizens and workers remains unchanged: lengthening waiting lists, struggling services, regions without solutions, and healthcare workers forced to operate under permanent emergency conditions. The meetings held thus far have not yet produced the desired progress, without the operational decisions envisaged by the protocol."

This is the crucial point: "Sardinian healthcare," the secretaries add, "can no longer wait. Therefore, the uncertainty that seems to characterize the government's structure is worrying. Whatever the reasons, the union demands only one thing: that there be no accountability gaps, governance uncertainties , or delays in implementing the commitments made."

Because the only thing that matters, according to the unionists, "is one thing only: that every point of the August 4th protocol be made immediately enforceable, without delay, without uncertainty, and without ambiguity.

The credibility of institutions is measured by their ability to implement what they sign up for: "Hiring and stabilizing, strengthening local healthcare, reorganizing services, reducing waiting lists, strengthening home care, transparent monitoring of advancements."

A meeting is scheduled for December 16th and the secretaries hope that it will take place "with the presence of President Todde and that it will finally represent a decisive moment, capable of clarifying the institutional structure, untying the remaining open issues and defining certain, operational and immediately verifiable timeframes for the implementation of the protocol".

Sardinia's healthcare system is described as "on the brink of collapse and will not allow anyone to sit back or waste any more time. If the turning point and the reversal of the trend that motivated the signing of August 4th do not come quickly ," Durante, Ledda, and Murru conclude, " the union will implement all necessary initiatives to protect workers, families, and the Sardinian countryside."

Enrico Fresu