DOHA: The unexpected closure of the outpatient clinics at the Hamad General Hospital (HGH) last Sunday left many visitors disappointed.
A number of patients had been granted appointments to see doctors on that day and some of them showed up only to see the
clinics closed.
HMC sources said the confusion was caused by a late announcement including Sunday in the official Eid Al Adha holidays.
Several nationals and residents also expressed resentment over the long holidays given to the HMC outpatient clinics as well as most of the primary health centres, saying that it led to problems for many patients, especially those who require follow-up treatment.
When contacted by The Peninsula yesterday, a senior HMC official said some patients had been granted appointments to see doctors at the outpatient clinics on Sunday because that day was not expected to be a holiday.
"We were not expecting Sunday to be a holiday and the announcement came later. We informed the patients who had appointments for that day through available telephone numbers. However, all of them could not be contacted over telephone," said the official.
"This is the reason why we are asking patients to provide accurate contact numbers," he added.
On demands to open the outpatient clinics during the holidays, the official said the issue was not currently under consideration of the HMC management.
"We had experimented with this some years ago by keeping the clinics open during the holidays but there were hardly any visitors. After that, a decision was taken to close the outpatient department (OPD) during Eid holidays," said the official.
The Emergency Department at HMC, the Paediatric Emergency in Al Sadd and some health centres remain open during the holidays and patients seeking emergency treatment can go to such facilities, he added.
The evening clinics at the HGH also functioned partially during the holidays.
Apparently due to the closure of the OPD and most of the primary health centres, the Emergency Department and the Paediatric Emergency in Sadd witnessed huge rush during the holidays. The Emergency Department received more than 3,000 visitors on the first three days of Eid while the Paediatric Emergency had an average 1,500 visitors daily.
A total of 16,484 patients visited the HMC pharmacies during the holidays, according to official statistics.
© The Peninsula 2010
