Never again alone

He had arrived by ambulance at the emergency room of the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome due to an illness: the triage, the waiting room, then suddenly the patient goes away and is no longer found.
They look for him for four days, his photo appears in numerous public appeals, then Mr. Giovanni Manna is found, unfortunately lifeless, several kilometers from the hospital.
There is an investigation opened by the judiciary to understand what happened in those 96 hours and thus shed light on a very sad story. The crime hypothesis is that of abandonment of an incapable person, because Mr. Giovanni had Alzheimer's: a condition that with great (or perhaps absolute) probability influenced his removal and then his end.
It will be the investigators, and then possibly the judges, who will define whether there were any personal responsibilities among those who managed his stay in the emergency room, but the whole affair has meanwhile brought attention to the fact that, even in the midst of the pandemic from Covid-19, in hospitals people like Mr. Giovanni can be accompanied and assisted by a family member or in any case by a trusted person.

We all know that the regulations (in this case one of the many Dpcm issued on the subject) have prohibited the carers of patients from staying in the waiting rooms of the emergency rooms, but there is an important exception for who assists patients with disabilities (recognition of the connotation of gravity is required pursuant to Law 104/92, Article 3 paragraph 3): they can stay in the places of acceptance and in the emergency room and can also provide assistance within the hospitalization in compliance with the indications of the medical director of the facility.
All of this, of course, as long as they are negative for the quick swab they are subjected to, free of charge and instantly, at the hospital itself. It is a possibility that healthcare professionals should know and above all they should get to know patients and their families.

«The Charter of the rights of people with dementia , which Alzheimer Federation Italy drafted over twenty years ago - says president Gabriella Salvini Porro - states among other things that the person with dementia must have the right to access health services like any other citizen.
This means these services need to pay attention to the specific needs of someone with dementia, even in a time of health emergency like this one.
For these patients, in fact, getting into an ambulance, accessing an emergency room or a hospital can be a disorienting and frightening experience that should always be faced with a family member or caregiver at the side, who can not only check them but also reassure them. and make sure that the time spent in the hospital is as less traumatic as possible.

This is why we ask the institutions to supervise so that in every health facility, people with dementia are guaranteed the necessary assistance and protection and that cases like these never occur again ".


Stefano Caredda
NP January 2022