Naples - Working in Italy's public healthcare system today means dealing with cockroaches coming out of drains, doors that won't close, and the lack of basic necessities like soap and hot water.
This is not the description of a field hospital in a war zone, but the daily reality of the Medical Guard of District 28 of the ASL Napoli 1 in Scampia, denounced by sixteen young doctors in a report accompanied by photos and videos sent to the MP Francesco Emilio Borrelli of the Green-Side Alliance.
The paradox of denied hygiene
The staff, all between 25 and 35 years old, describe a paradoxical situation: precisely in places where hygiene should be the minimum requirement, decay reigns. Despite the recent move to offices that appear renovated on paper, the reality is quite different. Halls and bathrooms are windowless, equipped only with skylights placed too high to open, making ventilation impossible.
The hygienic situation reaches the height of absurdity, with one of the bathrooms completely unusable: every time the toilet is flushed, water mixed with cockroaches leaks from the shower. There is no hot water or soap, which the doctors are forced to purchase out of their own pockets. Toilet paper and chairs arrived only after the threat of a formal complaint.
12-hour shifts without protection
The safety issue is no less concerning. The entrance door, a key element in protecting the facility from outside users during the 12-hour day and night shifts, is already broken and won't lock. Calls for emergency assistance have gone unanswered, leaving doctors exposed to potential risks.
To add to the inefficiency, the facility is completely shielded: no phone coverage and no Wi-Fi access. This inability translates into the inability to perform even the most basic searches, such as verifying the brand names of medications during patient care.
Borrelli's intervention
MP Francesco Emilio Borrelli called the situation "an insult to the dignity of young professionals and a danger to public health," announcing immediate action by the relevant offices of the ASL Napoli 1 Centro and the regulatory bodies.
"We will request an urgent and thorough inspection of the premises of the Emergency Medical Service in District 28 of Scampia," Borrelli stated. "The goal is to verify the veracity of the extremely serious reports and force those responsible to immediately restore minimum standards of hygiene, safety, and functionality."
The complaint by the sixteen doctors, "full of energy and a desire to do their job," once again lifts the veil on an Italian public health system that demands sacrifice from its workers but fails to even guarantee the minimum conditions for working with dignity.
- Article updated on 10/11/2025 at 12:39 - Article revised
Comments (1)
It's truly incredible how public healthcare can find itself in such a degraded state; doctors deserve better conditions. It's unacceptable that basic necessities like soap and hot water in bathrooms are lacking.