Medical devices abandoned in basements, Cera accuses: "These devices are left unused while patients wait months."

Mountains of electric and manual wheelchairs , bathroom chairs , bath aids , grab bars , canes , beds with side rails : these are just some of the medical devices that systematically end up piled up in the basements of the Foggia ASL facilities, remaining there to fill up with dust instead of being sent to the homes of patients who need them.

This is the bitter observation of regional councilor Napoleone Cera , who in recent days has visited local hospitals and clinics to experience firsthand a particularly widespread phenomenon .

"Every year," Cera recalled, "the Foggia Local Health Authority allocates no less than 15 million euros to purchase these devices. Many citizens, after using them or even never using them in some cases, return them to the Local Health Authority in near-perfect condition. But these, as mentioned, are set aside and end up in warehouses because reuse would require a sanitization procedure and reapproval."

Meanwhile, however, they remain unused. Meanwhile, today, to get a wheelchair, those who need one must wait no less than 7, 8 months , if not longer.

"Months in which a person remains locked at home because they have no aid to go out or to live," the councilor insists. "Months in which a child, an elderly person, a disabled person wait, worsening their quality of life and, in the worst cases, their health . Meanwhile, in our basements, we are inundated with devices, ready but blocked by bureaucracy and indifference . I wonder if this is normal. Is it possible that in 2025 there is no quick system to sanitize, reapprove, and reassign these devices?"

Cera then announced that he has sent a letter to the Foggia Local Health Authority (ASL) requesting that all necessary procedures be adopted to ensure these devices are provided to those who request them.

I say enough because those who need and have the right to healthcare cannot wait months while unused wheelchairs and beds rot in basements. The reconditioning of healthcare devices such as wheelchairs, orthopedic beds, lifts, walkers, and prostheses is a smart, sustainable, and profoundly ethical practice that should be strongly encouraged. Because through a structured system of reconditioning and reuse, it is possible to drastically reduce waste, cut costs for institutions and families, and above all , ensure immediate access to what they need for more patients .

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