A report on healthcare based on 2023
data presented by consumer organization Cittadinanzattiva on
Tuesday said that the long wait time for an appointment with a
physician and extremely short medical visits were denounced by
many Italians as a sign of the inability of the national
healthcare system to respond to their medical needs with one in
13 of those polled saying they had to forego care.
Overall, a first visit with the national healthcare system with
an ophthalmologist could require a 468-day wait while an
oncological checkup could take up to 480 days and a doppler
ultrasound 526 days, said Cittadinanzattiva.
Although the cases denounced to the organization did not
represent the average wait time required for appointments, the
phenomenon had a significant impact on healthcare choices with
7.6% of citizens foregoing care in 2023, up 0.6% compared to the
previous year, and nearly two in three (4.5%) doing it because
they had to wait too long - up from 2.8% in 2022, said the
report.
In addition, the document highlighted widespread dissatisfaction
in the relationship with general practitioners with reports
about disservices trebling over the past five years - from 5.4%
in 2018 to 14.2% in 2023, Cittadinanzattiva said.
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