Castel Volturno Outpatient Clinic

In Castel Volturno, practical and ongoing help for migrants and other vulnerable groups.

According to data published by the International Organization for Migration, in 2010 there were 25,000 foreigners in Castel Volturno, around one-third of the total population. The most recent Italian national demographics (January 2021) report resident foreigners at 17.5 per cent of the population, mainly from Ghana and Nigeria.

The figures, however, do not include non-resident foreigners and those without residence permits.

Day after day, we see the difficulties related to access to care. Migrants living in the area struggle to achieve decent economic conditions that can ensure their ability to access care. Endemic problems have arisen: from precarious employment to labour exploitation, primarily in the agricultural, commercial, and construction sectors, working often forces migrants to live in a limbo of prolonged ‘invisibility.’

Activities since 2013

We started working in Castel Volturno in 2013 with a mobile unit.

Two years later, to better meet healthcare needs of the population, we opened an Outpatient Clinic for both adult and paediatric patients.

At the same time, we collaborated with local organisations and supported the medical staff of the local health authority to create the conditions for a referral process for vulnerable patients to services in the area.

The Home Nursing Assessment Service

Since June 2022, a home nursing and social support project has been active to support caregivers and people in need of personal assistance. The service aims to help those in situations of serious need.

Patients – referred by local services (family doctors, social services…) – are met in their homes after an initial telephone interview to assess the condition and needs.

Together with our nurses and workers, we carry out health education and empowerment interventions, indicating to the caregivers or the patient how best to continue the therapies.

Our staff checks in on a quarterly basis, and, if necessary, the intervention plan is adjusted. Among the patients taken on so far are people managing illnesses like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, tumours, cerebral haemorrhage, and chronic diseases.

The project is part of a memorandum of understanding with the Local Health Authority. 

The Outpatient Clinic

With the opening of the Outpatient Clinic, our health personnel filled the gap in care by offering free services. Activities here ended in 2020, thanks to cooperation with the local health authorities: the handover was the result of joint work to enable foreign nationals to access nursing care on an equal footing with Italian citizens.

We continue to run a Socio-Medical Support and Information Point, where EMERGENCY staff and cultural mediators inform patients about their rights, inform patients about their rights, help them access National Health Service services, accompany them in case they have to undergo visits or specialist examinations at public facilities, deal with practices for issuing Stp codes (Temporarily Present Foreigners) and Eni (Non-registered European) which guarantees foreign nationals and new EU members citizens access to the Public Health Service.

Since 2015, we have provided more than 72,000 services, mostly for people with disabling chronic diseases and pregnant women.

EMERGENCY’s commitment to healthcare for the children of irregular migrants

In 2022, EMERGENCY helped give the children of irregular EU citizens the possibility to have free access to local paediatricians.

A goal achieved after years of requests to the representatives of the institutions in charge, to facilitate access to the health service regardless of administrative status.

With the issuance, in March 2022, of a regional circular allowing the minor children of immigrant parents without residence permits to assign their children to a paediatrician on the territory, our staff verified for the following months the correct application of the procedure, intervening to support the institutions in overcoming the technical and administrative limits.

In February 2023, our staff therefore concluded the paediatrician service, which since 2015 has guaranteed medical treatment, periodic growth checks and socio-healthcare guidance to 1,021 children followed by EMERGENCY’s paediatricians, for a total of 6,290 services provided.

Promoting rights together with the Castel Volturno Solidarity Network

EMERGENCY in Castel Volturno is part of the “Castel Volturno solidale” network, a group of organisations working at local level to defend and promote – through local activities and advocacy – the rights of those in marginalised living situations.

Together with the network’s members, EMERGENCY represents the requests of the patients of Castel Volturno to the municipal and regional administration and the Prefecture of Caserta so that the rights of the most vulnerable people are not ignored.

This project is supported with 8×1000 funds from the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai

And with the support of the Intesa San Paolo Charitable Fund