Napoli – Quasi 300 milioni di euro bruciati in cinque anni per risarcire errori sanitari. È il quadro impietoso che emerge dallo studio condotto dal Centro studi dell’associazione Fulop, presentato ieri presso la sede del Consiglio regionale della Campania su iniziativa della consigliera Michela Rostan, componente della commissione Sanità.
“A mountain of money,” commented Rostan, emphasizing how these resources could have reduced waiting lists, purchased diagnostic technologies, and funded prevention campaigns.
The numbers: Caserta, Cardarelli, and Salerno top the list
Raffaele Di Monda, president of Fulop, explained the research methodology. Fulop has been involved for years in national prevention campaigns against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antibiotic resistance. The association sent 192 requests for access to documents to local health authorities and hospitals throughout Italy, but in Campania, only 45% of the facilities contacted responded.
Among the certified data, the Caserta Local Health Authority stands out as the institution with the highest expenditures, followed by the Cardarelli Hospital in Naples with nearly €50 million over five years, and the San Giovanni Hospital in Salerno with €70 million. "If everyone had responded, the figures would likely have doubled," Di Monda warned.
The Gelli Law disregarded: opaqueness and lack of transparency
The situation worsens with regard to transparency. Article 4 of the Gelli-Bianco Law (No. 24/2017) explicitly requires all public and private healthcare facilities to publish on their websites data relating to all compensation paid over the last five years. Yet, as both Di Monda and Rostan have denounced, most healthcare agencies in Campania continue to systematically ignore this obligation, depriving citizens of the right to know how many errors and what amounts are being paid by each hospital.
Hospital infections and staff shortages: the main causes
Rostan identified two structural factors at the root of most claims: hospital-acquired infections and inadequate staffing. On the former front, he noted that basic measures recommended by the World Health Organization—such as hand washing before entering wards—could reduce infections by 50%. On the latter, he emphasized that aligning medical staffing with the actual needs of patients would significantly reduce the number of claims and, with it, the system's compensation burden.
Towards a reform: the challenge of the regional budget
The upcoming regional budget approval turns these data into a political test. "70% of the Region's resources are absorbed by healthcare, by President Fico's own admission," Rostan recalled, calling for the adoption of new organizational protocols shared with healthcare workers.
The councilor's stated goal is to initiate, with the opposition's support, "a true revolution in healthcare in Campania" that will transform the current drain on public resources into investments in citizens' health.
The article is very important, but it has too many unclear points: the numbers speak of hundreds of millions wasted, but it seems many companies have failed to respond, the Gelli law has been ignored, and no one is fully explaining the real causes. A clear plan to reduce infections and more medical personnel are needed.