Health Quality Report: In 2020, 17% of hospital admissions are missed, and treatments should be restored
In 2020, the number of hospitalizations decreased to 1.3 million compared to 2019 (-17%), of which about 620 thousand were skipped surgeries. In addition to scheduled hospitalizations (747,011), there are also urgent cases (554,123) being canceled. This is what emerges from the data of Salutequità’s fourth report on missed treatments due to the interruption of the management of the coronavirus pandemic. The most involved areas were general surgery, otolaryngology, and vascular surgery. For the cardiovascular field, there was a decrease of about 20% in implantation of defibrillators, defibrillators and major cardiac surgeries. Admissions for oncology surgery decreased by 13%, radiotherapy by 15%, and chemotherapy by 30%. The reduction in treatment for breast cancer was 30%, and for lung, pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancers by 20%.
In 2020 (compared to 2019) there were 90 million fewer laboratory services, -8 million fewer rehabilitation services, and -20 million diagnostic services. “Strategies have been put in place to respond to Covid but much has been done to recover from non-Covid illnesses,” Tonino Acetti, president of the Salutequità Association comments. Aceti is focusing on additional funds that are specifically earmarked for restoring queues. “About 67% of the resources allocated in 2020 were not spent by the provinces, with proportions of about 96% in the South, 54% in the North and 45% in the centre.” “We need a national recovery plan with a national entity like Agenas that supports regions, coordinates them and, if there are regional deficits, put in place alternative interventions,” he concludes.
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