The regional secretary of the FIMMG (Italian Federation of Medical Associations) has launched an appeal against overcrowding in emergency rooms: "Contact your GP first to avoid unnecessary risks." Most pneumonia cases involve unvaccinated patients.
Naples – Stop inappropriate visits to the emergency room for flu-like symptoms. The appeal comes from Luigi Sparano, deputy regional secretary of the Campania Federation of Medical Doctors (FIMMG), who urges residents to contact their family doctor before going to the hospital.
"Don't go to the emergency room without first contacting your GP: not only is it unnecessary, but it also poses a risk to frail patients and the elderly, who are easily susceptible to hospital-acquired infections," warns Sparano. The alarm stems from the increase in admissions recorded in recent days, as the seasonal flu peak approaches.
The alliance between hospitals and community medicine
The message launched by the FIMMG reflects and reiterates the call from the Cardarelli Hospital and other Neapolitan hospitals, strengthening an increasingly close alliance between hospitals and general medicine.
"The first point of contact is and must be the general practitioner," Sparano emphasizes, highlighting how too often patients head straight to the emergency room out of fear of having to undergo diagnostic tests that aren't always available locally.
"Most respiratory problems are linked to viral infections that can lead to opportunistic bacterial infections," explains the FIMMG secretary. "These conditions can be easily managed at home, following the instructions of the family doctor who is caring for the patient."
The general practitioner knows the patient's medical history
Sparano emphasizes a key point: the family doctor is the one who knows the patient, their chronic conditions, and their multiple morbidities best. Therefore, it's essential to first contact your general practitioner, who is easily accessible and can provide all the necessary answers.
Vaccinations open until the end of January
The Campania Federation of Medical Doctors also issued a strong call to continue flu vaccinations at least until the end of January. "The evidence is clear and evident: the majority of pneumonia cases we observe involve unvaccinated individuals," says Sparano. "Almost all of the patients who developed pneumonia had not received the flu vaccine."
The regional secretary concludes by reiterating the need to strengthen ties with citizens: "General practitioners are ready to provide all the necessary answers. Going to emergency rooms without first consulting your family doctor makes no sense from a diagnostic, therapeutic, or patient safety perspective."
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Comments (92)
And then they do nothing. But let's stop talking nonsense. People are submissive and don't care. It's all superficiality for all the same people and we who don't care.
Well done Rosa Petrosino
Keep in mind that simply wearing masks indoors would have reduced infections to very manageable numbers.
I miss the doctor who was always reachable
Today you download the application for prescriptions
Then no number is needed to communicate
The void
Doctors must visit patients and must not make diagnoses over the phone.
If they answered when you call and you're sick
There are not
You kill us in the emergency room, we're not crazy.
After the consultation they immediately send you to the emergency room.
Family doctors give you Tylenol and watchful waiting without examining you. It's been 8 days and I'm still feeling bad. There are two solutions: either you go to the emergency room or you do the DIY therapy.
I called the doctor on Monday before a holiday. The doctor answered me before 10am and started a therapy over the phone, knowing the patient, and yesterday evening after the surgery at 20,30pm she came to visit at home as my sister was unable to go to the surgery.
If the GPs responded…
My ninety-year-old mother with dementia has never seen her GP...he prescribes drugs via email.
Rosa Petrosino, however, you certainly don't die from the flu.
There are cases and cases
General practitioners who no longer come to your home even if you have a high fever, tell you to go to the surgery where you could infect other people, truly absurd.
They don't answer, they don't come to visit you anymore for medical prescriptions, you have to do wz and hope that they read them during the day to send you the request for the medicines, in the meantime you bought them, then obviously the emergency rooms get crowded
Vera Parisi never responds you just have to do wz and hope she contacts you
Lella Zeno you are super lucky
Yes, you have to call the person who saw it, and then you want to do the visit by phone, you are never available, I think that in these cases it is necessary to make sure that the medical services are open 24 hours a day even during the week to make an immediate diagnosis.
And when I had to ask him if he was closed on all holidays and the day before a holiday, he never answers even if he is in the office.
They should come to my house!!!
Then they send you to the emergency medical service... alternative to the emergency room
Bad bad
I would tell family doctors to start doing your job, you are FUGITIVES, (with the exception of a few)
Of course, you call them and they don't answer, and if I answer asking for a home visit, they'll prescribe any medication just to avoid the inconvenience.
Sabrina Coppola, from what I see in emergency rooms, I personally would be in trouble. There's no need to judge those who go there, since general practitioners are now mostly office workers.
They never answer unless you call a paid doctor, and there's no way you'll get any help.
If the family doctor doesn't answer, what should you do? You can die, you have to go to the emergency room, or find a private doctor and pay.
This is the Italian healthcare system now, we have to report it.
I've been like this for three weeks... blocked ears, cough... I'm buying some from a pharmacy but it doesn't go away.
If you call family doctors outside of office hours they don't even answer...at least mine does.
Marco Diana, fortunately I'm fine, I didn't even catch Covid, don't worry, I repeat that whoever goes to the emergency room will have an exceptional reason, I don't think it's because of a cold
Reading the article, it seems to me that it's important to contact your primary care physician before going to the emergency room. I've heard that many unvaccinated patients have serious problems, and this can be avoided with proper information.