From Palermo to Turin, here are the emergency rooms where people wait even more than 8 hours to be examined

It is the nightmare of many Italians who need treatment or an urgent visit: arriving at the emergency room and being forced to wait a long time for their turn. But there are those who are more unlucky, especially in some Italian hospitals where the waits extend to eight hours and more: at the emergency room of the Tor Vergata polyclinic in Rome, for example, one patient in four waits more than eight hours (exactly 25.2%), as at Sant'Andrea, also in Rome (23.6%), followed by the university hospital in Cagliari (23.1%). Among classic hospitals, this truly unenviable ranking is led by the Riuniti of Palermo (20.7% of patients wait eight hours or more), followed by the Cardarelli of Naples (20.4%) and the SS. Antonio and Biagio of Alessandria (18.2%). The updated data come from Agenas, the Agency for Regional Health Services, which has lined up the performance of hospital and university health authorities on this delicate front of care with some specific indicators.

The analyses are divided between university hospitals and general hospitals, and show an uneven situation, but with recurring trends: the areas in greatest difficulty are concentrated above all in southern Italy and in some large metropolitan areas. In particular, the indicator under the Agenas lens is that of the 'Percentage of emergency room admissions with waiting times between admission and discharge of more than or equal to eight hours'. In particular, the picture of university hospitals sees Tor Vergata reaching 25.2% of patients (1 out of 4) with a waiting time of more than 8 hours, the highest absolute value among all the facilities considered. This is followed by: Sant'Andrea Rome 23.6%, Cagliari 23.1%, Giaccone of Palermo 21.9%, Careggi Florence 18.5%, Maggiore della Carità of Novara 18.2%. Padua (2.9%), Renato Dulbecco in Catanzaro (4.6%) and Parma (6.2%) close the ranking with the lowest values. In non-university hospitals it is, as mentioned, the Riuniti of Palermo in first place with 20.7%, followed by the Cardarelli of Naples with 20.4%. This means that 1 patient in 5 waits more than 8 hours in these facilities. Very high values also at SS. Antonio e Biagio in Alessandria (18.2%). Other relevant numbers: Mauriziano of Turin at 17.9%, Garibaldi of Catania 15.4%, Sette Laghi (Varese) 15.3%, Cannizzaro (Catania) 14.4%. Among the large facilities in Lombardy, Niguarda in Milan appears at the bottom of the ranking, with a lower share - 7.4% - of accesses with waiting times greater than or equal to 8 hours. And the lowest figure, 1%, is recorded at the hospitals of Padua and San Carlo di Potenza.

Then there is another indicator - that of the percentage of drop-outs from the emergency room - which gives a sense of the discomfort of these facilities, which eventually see a number of patients leave the hospital, refusing to be examined. In the area of non-university hospitals, very high values of abandonment before a medical examination emerge, for example in Palermo, again in the emergency room of the Riuniti Villa Sofia-Cervello where 'escapes' reach 24.7%, followed by the Dei Colli in Naples with 23.1%. Above 15% also Vico Benfratelli in Palermo (18.2%) and Garibaldi in Catania (15.6%). Significant values also concern Cardarelli of Naples (12.8%), Mauriziano of Turin (12.5%), Brotzu of Cagliari (11.5%) and Papardo of Messina (10.6%). Among the large facilities in the Centre-North, less alarming but still relevant numbers are recorded at the Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo (9.9%), San Giovanni Addolorata in Rome (9.3%) and San Camillo Forlanini, also in the capital, with 9.2%. The lowest figure is at Santa Maria di Terni, which stands at 0.3%. A variable situation can also be observed among university hospitals. The emergency department with the highest rate of drop-outs is Palermo's Giaccone, where they reach 18.8%. It is followed by: Tor Vergata (Rome) at 15.7%, G. Martino di Messina at 13.3%, Cagliari at 11.8%, Riuniti di Foggia at 11.6% and Sant'Andrea (Rome) at 10.9%. Among the facilities with fewer drop-outs are Padua (1.0%), San Matteo in Pavia (1.2%) and Verona (1.9%), which represent the most efficient cases

 The difficulties of Italy's emergency rooms 'are a symptom of a broader crisis in the national health service. The main causes are first of all the shortage of thousands of specialist doctors, with forecasts indicating some 4,500 fewer operators than are needed'. Added to this are 'precarious working conditions. The excessive load and conditions at the limit of bearability lead to a flight of doctors from the sector, also because of the unattractive salaries'. Thus Pierino Di Silverio, national secretary of the hospital doctors' union Anaao Assomed, which promoted a meeting in Rome to discuss the daily lives of doctors working in emergency-urgency departments, who also told their stories through life stories that have become books. Among the participants was Michele Ruol, an anaesthetist doctor and author of 'Inventario di quel che resta dopo che la foresta brucia' (Inventory of what remains after the forest burns down), a finalist for the Strega 2025 award. Contributing to the difficulties that doctors encounter every day in emergency rooms, Di Silverio emphasised, 'we must not underestimate the transformation of the healthcare system: the model of hospital companies, health companies where care is increasingly seen as a product and no longer as a public service'. The Anaao Assomed, he concludes, 'does not limit itself to criticism, but also puts forward concrete proposals: immediate interventions to increase human and logistical resources, especially during peak periods such as the flu season, but also long-term investments to make work in emergency departments more attractive. However, a structural reform of our system is also necessary, starting with the revision of Legislative Decree 502 of 1992'.