“Immediately obligatory anti Covid vaccine. No vax are affecting everyone’s health” – Corriere di Siena
“The hospital is demonstrating great spirit of service and good organization. Despite being hospitalized for Covid proportionally higher than those of other university hospitals, we are achieving a progressive reduction and reduction of waiting lists “. There is pride in the words of Antonio Barretta: the general manager ofAou Sienese analyze the situation at Sheets and seeks a balance between optimism and realism. While the vaccines have eased the pressure on the polyclinic, notwithstanding Siena is heavily affected by the contagion, on the other hand she can only remember the commitment of her staff. “It is a tiring battle – says the general manager – which currently involves about 13 doctors, 40 nurses and 15 health workers. Important resources that I would employ elsewhere if there weren’t the COVID-19 to counter. The numbers tell us that less than a third of people who arrive at the hospital are vaccinated; there is bitterness because it is reasonable to think that without no vax at least two thirds of hospitalizations less. We do not want to understand that personal freedom is not at stake, but personal freedom Hello to all. The choices of a few are negatively conditioning community life, are depriving some patients of the right to receive prompt treatment. It has happened in the past and continues to happen whenever hospitalizations for Covid he adds: yes others to others to be cared for by occupying beds and workforce “.
Singapore has announced that it will pay Covid medical care to no vaxes. What do you think?
“Which is an undesirable extreme measure for a universal health system like ours. On the other hand, I think that, at this point, the time has come to get to the compulsory vaccination for everyone ”.
Speaking of those who do not get vaccinated, what is the situation of the suspensions among your employees?
“Of the 32 healthcare workers in the sector that we have suspended, to which an executive must be added, unfortunately we have only been able to reinstate six. It is a rather low number, which shows some resistance, even if the reintegration takes place only after the second dose and, therefore, the situation is probably evolving. There are also 12 people who were able to show a vaccine exemption certificate, among them eight from the sector, as well as four executives, two of whom were then able to vaccinate. Twenty people remain who are not at work, due to maternity, long illnesses or expectations: to return to work in the presence they must first be vaccinated “.
How worried is the increase in cases?
“It worries not so much for our ability to give answers, because as we have already shown we are able to cope with many more hospitalizations, but for the possible need to reschedule the ordinary hospital activity with the effect that the lists of the wait would begin to lengthen again. This scenario, our strategy does not change: we must always be ready to rapidly reshape our organization based on the evolution of the pandemic ”.
Is the increase, albeit relative, in hospitalizations somehow slowing down the massive plan of cuts in waiting lists? At what point has the Aou Senese arrived?
“Despite the resources committed in the area Covid, the periodic report on our business volumes shows that we are doing well. For outpatient services we are giving important answers, absorbing delays and aligning our offer to the demand for first visits in the vast majority of cases. We have some sectors still a little behind, I am thinking of allergology and some areas of diagnostic imaging, due to the lack of some professionals that we will fill with hires, but it will take the time necessary for recruitment. As regards the surgical field, the Region has assigned a volume target to be respected, equal to that of 2019 minus 10%. It is a challenging goal, we have also had 150 hospitalized for Covid, but our professionals are doing a great job to achieve it, in some cases also working on Saturdays. Before the pandemic, we carried out just over 13,000 elective surgeries, the goal for 2021 is about 12,000 and we are almost in line, already over 10,000 operations, despite the grip of the virus ”.
How many Covid patients can the hospital host today?
“From 3 September to 31 December, with resolution 893, we have developed a plan to assist 85 sick people. If we also add the pediatric places we reach 90. I hope and think that they are places well above the current needs “.
He talked about new hires. How to proceed with the piano?
“From January 1st to September 30th we hired 171 professionals. Very important hires that have gone to fill the gaps, compared to the 200 terminations this year. If it is true that the balance is negative, we must consider that in 2020 the workforce had undergone an increase due to the pandemic. Obviously we will continue to hire based on business needs, but the insertions cannot be made indiscriminately. There are spending constraints to be respected and we have a duty to intervene where there is greater need “.
What do you respond to the CISL that continues to protest?
“I do not want to enter into controversy, I will limit myself to saying that we are doing a lot, examining for some time now the situations of suffering limited to certain sectors. The generalized organizational suffering we are accused of by some is not supported by data. As mentioned, the resources are not unlimited: This is not always possible, the professionals in the ranking often do not accept fixed-term contracts and, therefore, we sometimes have to draw on the staff employed in our ordinary services which unfortunately need to be reprogrammed “.
How difficult but at the same time important is it to be able to plan and program this situation? At Scotte there is a new initiative every week.
“We have a lot of ongoing projects and I’m happy when the ideas come from professionals or associations that collaborate with us. It is important that there is this continuous striving towards innovation, it gives new energy and promotes continuous improvement. As company management, the two strands on which we are moving best are restructuring and technological modernization, as well as organizational innovation also in terms of internal collaboration between professionals and with other companies. By the first part of December there will be two important agreements, which will be added to those with Careggi for the lung and with the Monasterio foundation for cardiac surgery ”.