362 doctors, nurses and health workers have sent Bortolo Simoni, commissioner of Ulss 7 Pedemontana, to Franco Balzi, president of the Conference of Mayors of the Alto Vicentino District of the health company and to Mauro Ferracin, trade union representative, a heartfelt letter in to whom they complain about the lack of hiring of human resources during the summer and confide the fear of “not making it” during the second wave of covid.
A letter written with heart in hand which, in addition to technical fears, also highlights attachment to the profession and to the medical ‘mission’.
“I want to express a few simple words of support and closeness, given the difficult situation they are facing, and that their writing well represents – explained Balzi on behalf of his fellow first citizens – I trust to be able to report their concerns as soon as possible , together with those of all citizens of the area, in the meeting requested from the President of the Executive and the Regional Councilor. I also want to guarantee them the utmost commitment on the part of all the mayors of the area, as clearly emerged during the last meeting of the Committee, to help identify the best possible solutions to the problems they exposed ”.
Here is the full text of the letter, signed by 362 operators in the sector
“Subject: Discomfort of health workers in District 2 We are health workers in District 2 of Ulss7 Pedemontana: doctors, nurses, social and health workers, health assistants, physiotherapists, technical staff of various specialties”
“With this press release we intend to express the concern and fatigue of the moment we are experiencing. The second wave of the Covid emergency, which saw us fall back into the situation already experienced in the spring, is heavier than the previous one. There is a high number of infections in the area and a greater number of patients hospitalized both in the intensive care units and in the Covid hospitalization areas, in which there are also semi-intensive care beds. At the Santorso hospital in this second wave, other care activities were also kept active, which, albeit in a limited way, guarantee a response to the needs of the citizens of our district. All this, while being fully understood and shared by us, involves a high workload. As employees we expected that during the summer a hiring plan and an activity planning would be made, such as to allow the management of the new wave planned for the autumn with a certain schedule, not in continuous emergency as happened in the spring. Unfortunately, only from November, a number of personnel began to arrive who, being newly hired, need to be trained and supported to achieve autonomy in the management of activities, especially within the Covid departments. In the meantime, several operators have fallen ill and continue to get sick and this keeps the system in continuous and high suffering, sometimes jeopardizing a dignified assistance to the sick. The situation is transversal to all professional categories and to all areas of District 2. We want to express the fatigue of the staff who work in the Covid wards and in intensive care subjected to grueling shifts and of all the remaining hospital staff who must guarantee the other activities, of laboratory and radiology technicians who guarantee, in addition to all ordinary investigations, the results of swabs and related Covid radiological performances. The local structures are committed to supporting GPs, managing specialist clinics and home care in order to avoid as much as possible access to hospital for fragile people with chronic diseases. The Prevention Department that follows the contact tracing is in charge of the buffer points and tries to maintain normal screening activities, it is in extreme distress. The territorial structures that deal with social and welfare aspects such as day centers for the disabled, mental health centers, family counseling centers and school assistance, have had to reorganize all their activities in order to reduce the risk of contagion among the users. We have the feeling that programming and planning activities are not always consistent with implementation, we feel little listened to in the daily operational proposals to be implemented, with discontinuous and fragmentary information that often does not make us understand what the corporate strategy to be follow. We wonder if we will be able to withstand this situation for a long time with the resources currently available, given that the winter has just begun and the staff are already tried. We listen to the citizens with whom we come into contact every day at work, we understand their discomfort and we ourselves are, for the most part, citizens and users of this territory. We are concerned that the health issue has created divisions between groups of mayors in District 2. As health workers we believe that the communiqué issued by some of the mayors fully reflects the situation we are experiencing. We are grateful for the appreciation and support they have expressed for us and we ask them to be vigilant in fear that the tightness of the entire system could spiral out of control. It creates bitterness to hear some politicians and some of our managers say that the hospital and the territory would be suffering because some mayors and some employees speak ill of the services offered, creating a negative halo effect. We are proud of our hospital and the network of services present in our territory, implemented over the years also with our contribution. We believed in hospital and territorial assistance projects implemented and in part still to be developed, each operating in their own area of expertise with commitment and responsibility close to sick and frail people, with a view to public health at the service of citizens. We look forward to being more informed and involved in immediate and future planning by our management. We ask to be able to work with dignity, in safety and with the right resources, to guarantee quality and safety to the citizens of our territory ”.
