Proposal for the Naples Medical Association, signing informed consent to patients before each hospitalization
Rome, 22 oct. (AdnKronos Salute) – It could be "deadly" for the Italian health system, a real coup de grace for the National Health Service, the opening of a line of requests for compensation to hospitals for nosocomial infections, events unfortunately impossible to reset. The alarm was sounded by the president of the Medical Association of Naples, Silvestro Scotti, who reflects on the maxi compensation of 1 million euros - which was reported a few days ago - granted by the Naples court to the family of a dead patient by infection after a trivial surgeryCardarelli hospital, structure that will have to pay the large sum.
A theme, that of nosocomial infections, on which Scotti appeals to the health institutions which, in the first place, "must do their utmost against these events that weigh too much above all in terms of human lives and suffering - the doctor declares to AdnKronos Salute – as well as representing a high economic cost”.
The invitation to the institutions is also to have "maximum attention to transparency and information on the subject". And the president of the Neapolitan doctors makes a provocative proposal: “Let us sign the informed consent on the risk of nosocomial infection at each hospitalization”.
The risk of 'default' of hospitals is in fact enormous, "should the legal groups that deal with health disputes decide to exploit this trend", says Scotti, highlighting two elements that make the issue particularly worrying: the new indications in the Stability law , which provide that hospitals in deficit can enter the recovery plan, and scientific data on antibiotic-resistant superbugs. "Hospital infections are an intrinsic problem of healthcare facilities, places where resistant microorganisms develop more easily precisely because more weapons are used to fight them", recalls Scotti.
Superbugs are therefore a known and frequent danger to hospitals. “It is obvious that it is necessary to make every effort to reduce these eventualities, to apply all the foreseen procedures and to ensure that companies enhance their risk management services, maintaining the independence necessary for a control body. Having said that, however, we know that the risk cannot be eliminated. And the lawsuits could multiply”, concludes Scotti.
The number one of the Neapolitan Order invites a collective reflection on the complaints in health care, in the face of this new scenario. “We have to understand if there is a collective interest in this country or only the individual one. The compensations requested from the hospital, in fact, take away resources from the structure, therefore from everyone's care, because the 'blanket', in addition to being short, is only one”.
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