The general strike of 29 November, proclaimed by CGIL and UIL, had a strong impact on health systemwith thousands of visits and surgeries postponed. At a national level, widespread disruption was expected and could have caused up to 1.2 million healthcare services. Some confirmations arrive from Turin, albeit with lower numbers than forecast.
The protest was very heartfelt, especially because it was fueled by the challenge to the budget law which blocked the hiring plan of 30,000 new operators and provided for only minimum wage increases, which were considered insufficient by healthcare personnel. Despite the low “official” membership, the strike involved a large number of workers, putting an already existing healthcare system to the test fragile. In any case, emergencies were guaranteed. There will be various repercussions on performance, which will have to be calculated in the following weeks and months, given the difficult calendar planning throughout Italy.
Adherence of healthcare personnel: the impact in numbers
Massimo EspostoCGIL Secretary of the Health sector, confirmed that approximately 10% of the staff officially joined the mobilization of November 29th. Apparently a low number. In fact, the majority of doctors, nurses and administrative workers have been called upon to guarantee the provision of urgent services, such as surgical interventions that cannot be deferred and health services that cannot be postponed. This allowed the emergency room and inpatient departments to maintain full operations.
Despite the low official membership, the impact of the mobilization was rather large, with indirect participation reaching 50% of the staff in some healthcare facilities.
The strike, as expected, highlighted the serious staff shortages affecting the Piedmontese healthcare system, a chronic problem that has not yet found adequate solutions. The shortage of doctors and nurses, which is close to 10%, heavily impacts the system’s ability to respond to citizens’ needs, increasing workloads and compromising the efficiency of services.
At a national level, the risk of disruption was even higher, with the same unions having foreseen the possibility of skipping up to 1.2 million services, even though emergencies were guaranteed. In Piedmont (where there were the greatest tensions, complete with clashes), the structures tried to limit the damagebut the protest still had a strong impact on non-urgent services.
Data and critical issues in performance reprogramming
On a practical level, the strike led to the postponement of thousands of health services. In the four main hospitals of Turin (Molinette, Cto, Regina Margherita and Sant’Anna) they were 1500 specialist exams postponedin addition to another 417 visits postponed to the Mauritian alone. On the contrary, in the hospitals of the ASL City of Turin, they were not registered postponements of surgerywhile the data relating to postponed specialist visits have not yet been provided.
Hospitals appeared anyway semi-desertswith many patients already notified in advance of referrals. The response capacity of the healthcare system was therefore limited, with hospitals which, while maintaining maximum operations in the emergency areas and urgent departments, saw the influx for ordinary activities reduced.
The effects of the strike of 29 November are added to the inconveniences already caused by the previous strike of 20 November, which had seen the postponement of 90 surgeries and 300 outpatient visits. In this scenario, performance rescheduling becomes a priority, but the timescales for recovering delays remain uncertain. Waiting lists, already affected by a lack of resources, could grow further, with serious inconvenience for patients who risk seeing their healthcare services postponed from month to month.
