The investigation in Pisa: “Long waiting times in the clinics and many go to private individuals”
A questionnaire of “Non Una di Meno” submitted to 200 people reveals: more than one in three gives up for waiting. “We need more staff”
PISA. There are official statistics, with user satisfaction services, service surveys and adequacy to the parameters of the law. And then there is the work of “Non una di less”, which seeks out different metrics and above all keeps a spotlight on one. Basic. Accessibility to the public service, a true distinction between good, cold numbers and a service that is truly accessible and useful for women and families.
The pandemic that began in “Non una di less” dates back to 2019, in the middle there was one that complicated things and made some difficulties evident (the difficulty of guaranteeing home visits first of all). The main issue, however, is accessibility.
“Out of about 200 people interviewed (43% between 26 and 36 years) – explain the activists – 37% do not go to the public counseling center due to” waiting times that are too long to book and to solve problems “: a Pisa it is possible to book the gynecological examination (and collect the pregnancy booklet) from Monday to Friday from 12 to 13.30. The problem is that there is only one operator who should take the reservations of those who go directly to the counter and at the same time as those who want to book. The result is that those who try to book by phone are forced to wait a long time, or to do consecutive ones, without however being sure of an answer ».
And they denounce a lack of staff: “In the face of a good quality of the services offered by the consultant from Pisa, we denounce how these are not guaranteed for everyone because the first significant fact is that many prefer to turn to private individuals because there is no waiting . Despite the good will of the health workers, the figures speak for themselves: by law one consultant should be guaranteed for every 20,000 inhabitants. Pisa has 80,000 residents and about 50,000 non-resident students ”.
Specifically, they clarify, “if we look at the data relating only to the clinic in Pisa, we see that those who overcome the obstacle of booking and contact the public counseling center say they are satisfied with the service (48%) and highlight the professionalism of the staff and availability. 21% declared themselves satisfied on average; a percentage of about 10% who instead had a negative experience and complains of the superficiality and the little time dedicated to the visit / performance, and in one case the lack of tact and verbal violence ».
A large part of the difficulties encountered by users are attributed to the lack of staff. «The problem would be easily overcome with the increase of the staff of the existing consultants, as well as with the opening of new consultorial spaces, and in this sense we have always hoped for a comparison with the staff because we consider the testimonies of those who work there to be fundamental. Also due to the lack of staff is the lack of communication and advertising of some services such as the youth counseling center, and we do not struggle to think that it is not accidental: if more than the expected users and users showed up at the weekly meeting, they would not could the means and the time to cover the request “.