A significant fact that concerns the elderly in Italian hospitals: the photograph of a country where there is a lack of structures and where the costs are enormous
An eloquent figure, which offers a (unfortunately) faithful reflection of the conditions in which the elderly live in our country. And which, consequently, translates into enormous difficulties for our health care. Italy is a nation with a very high average age. And this fact has led to make a specific assessment: who gave a truthful and shocking photograph.
There are many, too many, the elderly who remain in hospitals after having had assistance. Because there is no one at home ready to assist them. A tragic situationwhich highlights the terrible conditions that our elderly are forced to face (increasingly abandoned to their fate) and the difficulties that public health structures are forced to face, forced to keep beds occupied and to increase the cost of structures.
The so-called improper hospitalizations (days in which some people remained in hospital despite not needing it) were countless: over two million. A survey conducted in 98 structures from Fadoithe scientific society of internal medicine, indicates that from the date of resignation indicated by the doctor to the actual one of exit, more than a week passes in the 26.5% of cases, 5 to 7 days in 39.8% of patients, while another 28.6% stay two to four days longer than necessary. Impressive numbers, which give the real condition of Italian health care.
Having no family member (or carer) at home, 75.5% of the elderly remain in hospital improperly. On the other hand, 49% are elderly people who, once in a position to be discharged, apply (empty) to enter an RSA. 64.3% prolong hospitalization beyond what is necessary because there are no intermediate health facilities in the area while the 22.4% have difficulty activating the ADI. And all this has a cost for the NHS of around one and a half billion a year. Half of the hospitalizations concern patients over 70 and in over 50% of cases they stay in the ward about a week longer than necessary, given that they do not have a family member who can assist them or resources for a nursing home.
“Huge problems for hospitals”
“We experience the need to take charge of social problems that end up unduly weighing on hospitals and internal medicine departments in particular”coments Francesco Dentali, President of Fadoi. For the outgoing president of Fadoi, Dario Manfellotto, “recipes like community houses and community hospitals are old. These are models that we have already defined and tested but which often don’t work and we have seen it for example with Covid. They had also been present for years in some regional health plans, such as that of Lazio for example. And it doesn’t seem to me that there was a greater ability to deal with the pandemic, for example, where the Health Homes were present”.
