Waiting lists, cardiologist and dermatologist nightmare. It goes better with gynecological visits

These are the biblical times of Sardinian healthcare. Ordinary routine medical visits that become record-breaking waits, lasting up to fourteen months. The data is found on the ASL websites, digitized and put online by the company managements themselves who, on a monthly basis, have the obligation to make public the progress of bookings made by citizen-users through the Single Cup Centre.

There is more than one information gap, while updates for Olbia and Lanusei-Tortolì are completely missing : in the Gallura Local Health Authority the numbers stop at 2021, in Ogliastra at 2016. The performances sampled by Unionesarda.it are the medical visits in Cardiology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Gynecology, Orthopedics, and Neurology (with a subsequent in-depth analysis we will turn the spotlight on specialist exams). The numbers compared are the latest published by the local health authorities and refer to the month of October.

In Sardinia, the black shirt in cardiology belongs to Orosei, where you have to wait 411 days to have an appointment in the town's clinic. The local health authority of reference is that of Nuoro. Things are slightly better in Gavoi, which falls under the same healthcare company and has 335 days of waiting. The third worst data is recorded in Sinnai, in the Cagliari area, with 277 days.

In the map by local health authority, starting from the Sardinian capital, here is how long you have to wait in the various healthcare facilities in the area indicated in the October report: 52 days at the Binaghi hospital in Cagliari; 116 for a visit to Decimomannu; 189 in Dolianova; 190 in Monastir; 103 in Pula; 113 in Quartu; 153 in Selargius; 188 in Senorbì; 164 in Sestu; 171 in Siliqua; 78 in Villasimius.

The Sulcis Local Health Authority has only published Iglesias' data: 268 days of waiting before being able to visit the cardiologist. These, however, are the numbers for the Medio Campidano: at the San Gavino hospital they wait 186 days, at Sanluri 159, at Guspini 217. In Oristano the wait is 102 days, but in the same local health authority, again in October, the an appointment with the cardiologist was obtained in 14 days in Ales and in just two in Terralba.

Nuoro and the surrounding area are decidedly worse : in addition to the aforementioned negative records of Orosei and Gavoi, here is the 274-day waiting list in the outpatient clinic of the capital, while for the cardiologist at the San Francesco hospital the waiting times are reduced to 54 days. Then here are Bitti's 76, Macomer's 246, Siniscola's 110 and Sorgono's 143. The Sassari Local Health Authority, however, only published the data for the former Conti clinic, with 35 days, and that of Bono, with 72 days of waiting.

The Santissima Trinità hospital in Cagliari records the negative regional record for dermatological visits: 342 days of waiting. Close by are Siniscola and the Nuoro Polyclinic, where the appointment does not arrive before 270 and 257 days respectively.

In the breakdown by local health authority, on number 8 of the Sardinian capital, here are the other data: Mandas 124 days; Muravera 120; Senorbì 67; Sestu 211; Siliqua 246; Villasimius 28. On Sulcis there is still only information on Iglesias, with 118 days of waiting. Then here is the Medio Campidano: to be examined by the dermatologist you have to wait 100 days in Villacidro, 123 in Sanluri and 113 in Guspini. In the city of Oristano, however, the Cup does not schedule an appointment with the dermatologist before 93 days which in the area is reduced to 81 in Terralba and 97 in Samugheo.

At ASL number 3, the worst figure is recorded at the Nuoro Polyclinic with 257 days, then there is the Zonchello hospital with 230. But at San Francesco the wait is 58 days. In Gavoi there are 216, in Macomer 133, in Orosei 221, in Siniscola 270, in Sorgono 186. Finally Sassari: the data for the capital is missing, while there are those for Alghero (108 days), Bono (59), Ozieri (16) and Perfugas (73).

The Santissima Trinità of Cagliari still collects a negative record on a regional scale: for gastroenterological visits the waiting time is 324 days. The Nuoro clinic records the second worst data on the island, but with a difference: there they wait 191 days. The third longest wait is still in ASL 3 with Macomer, where the specialist service is provided 159 days after the call to the Cup.

These are the other Sardinian data: in Iglesias the appointment with the dermatologist arrives 141 days after booking; in San Gavino after 105; in Oristano after 101; at San Francesco di Nuoro after 159 days. In Ozieri, however, you have to wait six days, in the former Conti di Sassari center just two, again according to the numbers released by the local health authorities in the October report.

Among the six specialist visits sampled, gynecological ones recorded the lowest waiting times in Sardinia. The worst data is at the Oristano clinic, with 93 days, but the number is significantly lower than the median of all the other healthcare services we talk about in this in-depth analysis. Followed by Binaghi of Cagliari with 81 days and San Camillo of Sassari with 45.

Precisely in ASL 8 of the Sardinian capital, the structures indicated in the October report guarantee an appointment with a gynecologist within two weeks: 8 days at Santissima Trinità; 11 at the clinic in Viale Trieste, also in Cagliari; one day in Isili and San Nicolò Gerrei; nine in Mandas and Teulada; two in Muravera; seven in Selargius; five in Senorbì.

In Sulcis, both in Carbonia and Fluminimaggiore we expect five days. In the Middle Campidano the waiting list for a gynecological visit is longer: 40 days in Sanluri; 55 in Guspini and 34 in San Gavino, but these are still small numbers. Two speeds at ASL 5: in addition to the aforementioned Oristano clinic, here are the 31 days of the San Martino city hospital, the 5 of Ales and Ghilarza, the 11 of Bosa. Again: three days of waiting in Samugheo and one in Terralba.

In the city of Nuoro the waiting list for a gynecological visit varies between 30 days at the clinic and 20 at the San Francesco clinic. But in Macomer they wait just 4 days, only one in Sorgono. Finally, here are the numbers of ASL 1: Alghero 18 days; Bonorva 4; Ozieri 21; Porto Torres 2; Sassari (formerly Conti) 39 days.

With the booking of an orthopedic visit, the numbers go up, always taking as reference the reports published by the Sardinian local health authorities. Except those of Olbia and Ogliastra, whose data cannot be retrieved online, at least by typing the keyword "waiting lists", as happens with other healthcare companies. In Sardinia, the negative record was recorded by Gavoi in October, with 204 days. Followed by the Santissima Trinità of Cagliari (195) and Selargius (181).

Here are the other data: Dolianova 147 days; Isili 87; Monastir 118; Muravera 92; Sestu 122. In Sulcis for an orthopedic visit the appointment arrives after 107 days in Giba, after 108 in Iglesias and after 109 in Sant'Antioco. In Carbonia, however, they expect just three days at the Sirai hospital, but 99 at the clinic.

In the Middle Campidano the waiting times are 152 days in Villacidro and 142 in Sanluri. Only the data from Bosa and Cuglieri have been published on the Oristano Local Health Authority, where the visit to the orthopedist arrives respectively 27 days and 53 days after booking at the Cup. In the Nuoro area, however, 169 are expected at the clinic in the capital, 69 in Macomer; 68 in Orosei and 63 in Siniscola. In Alghero the wait is 125 days; to Bono by 62, to Bonorva by 53, to Ittiri by 82, to Ozieri by 28, to Sassari (formerly Conti) by 4, to Thiesi by 72 days.

The numbers also rise significantly again for neurological visits: Nuoro, with the outpatient clinic and the San Francesco hospital, has the first and third worst figures in Sardinia. The waiting times are 297 and 266 days respectively. In the middle there is Alghero with 273.

At the ASL 8 of Cagliari and its province, the black jersey belongs to Quartu with 197 days before obtaining the appointment. Then here is Selargius at 186 and the Santissima Trinità of Cagliari at 156. Then the 148 days of Sestu, the 144 of Monastir and the 139 of Muravera. At Binaghi in the capital, 122 days are expected, at Teulada 115. In the Sulcis Local Health Authority they range from 131 days in Iglesias to 4 in Fluminimaggiore.

On the trend of bookings in the Middle Campidano, the health authority number 6 has released the data for Serramanna (179 days), Guspini (two) and San Gavino hospital (156). In Oristano in October, visits were made to the neurologist within twenty-four hours.

In the Nuoro area things are going very badly not only in the Barbagia capital but also in Gavoi and Macomer. The wait is 261 and 203. In Orosei they wait 115 days, in Siniscola 125, in Sorgono 219. As for the north-west of the island, there are no major emergencies other than that of Alghero: for a neurology visit they wait 72 days in Bono; 12 in Ozieri, 18 in Ploaghe, 9 in Sassari at the clinic in via Tempio.

All the numbers published by the island's local health authorities and reported in this study refer to the so-called "first visits". That is, the patients who call Cup are not being treated by the specialists from whom they request the healthcare service. The underlining is important because national legislation requires monthly monitoring only for this type of appointment. The objective is to activate maximum vigilance to reduce waiting times. But in Sardinia the finish line still seems far away.