DOHA - A total of 134,939 patients have been treated within a year since the official opening of the Al Khor Hospital, the Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) first specialised healthcare facility outside Doha.
From the sum a total of 68,411 were emergency cases; 1,455 patients have had operations and 3,868 have been admitted as inpatients, according to the 2005-2006 statistics provided by the medical facility.
In an interview with The Peninsula, Salem bin Abdullah Al Shahwari, Manager of Al Khor Hospital, reflected on the first year anniversary and achievements of the facility, whilst outlining areas in which further expansion and service improvement need to be addressed.
"With 24 hour emergency and capacity of 120 inpatient beds, we have only transferred a total of 90 patients to HMC in an entire year. This is a testament to the excellent services, efficient medical staff and high quality medical specialisations available here in Al Khor for the benefit of the public in Qatar. The hospital is achieving its vision to become a world class health provider," said Al Shahwari.
The range of medical services being provided at the hospital ranges from dental, dermatology to plastic surgery and emergency services are offered in the areas of general emergency, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatric.
Each service is supported with the latest medical technology, such as an MRI machine that has attracted patients from Doha to Al Khor.
Within a year, a total of 33,989 patients have benefited from the out-patients' department and the general services offered at Al Khor Hospital.
"We hope to extend our emergency services because in severe cases, such as burns, we refer patients directly to HMC and other sub-speciality sectors. However, we have already started plans to provide a two storey building that offers a kidney dialysis unit, with approximately 20 dialysis machines and a paediatric emergency wing.
"Especially since our paediatric unit is the hospitals busiest unit, in a year a total of 26,836 patients were treated in emergency paediatric" commented Al Shahwari.
The number of labour workers entering the hospital on a daily basis is the main area of concern that needs to be addressed as early as possible, according to Al Shahwari: "Each day a bus load of approximately 60 labourers will arrive, all at the same time expecting to be served, usually during the morning hours which tend to be the hospitals peak hour for admitting and treating patients."
"This creates a problem for the medical staff; our standard is to make sure we treat every person before releasing them, therefore we need to streamline this system within the hospital and with the companies responsible for these workers. We need to ensure that the labourers flow in throughout the day, especially in the evenings during the hospitals quiet hours in order to make sure that each patient gets treated immediately and successfully" added Al Shahwari.
"Our overall aim is to make sure we cater to our patients needs, we plan to provide extra services in the future in order to make sure the demands of our patients are satisfied in the North without having to send them to Doha. We have operated on many patients here in Al Khor, ranging from orthopaedic to ophthalmology. In the future we hope to invite specialist doctors from overseas to visit the facility."
Speaking to The Peninsula, Faiza Bahnas, Assistant Executive of Director for Nursing, said "According to the feedback from our patients comment cards, the majority have been highly satisfied with the services we have to offer and have provided whilst in our care. Any areas which need improving are immediately put into action in a multidisciplinary action plan."
When asked if communication between doctor and patient is a problem regarding the vast number of Asian workers that do not speak English that seek medical help, Bahnas said, "We definitely need translators to be able to communicate effectively with our patients, for now we have managed to cope with the language skills from the international members of staff."
Officials at the Al Khor Community Medical Care Centre, expressed their support for the Al Khor Hospital.
"It has revolutionised the way in which we operate within the community, we now have the ability to refer our patients to an excellent healthcare facility close to home without having to send patients all the way to Doha, this reduces the pressure on HMC."
A patient recently treated at the Al Khor Hospital told The Peninsula: "In Europe we do not have access to such a high quality public healthcare facility, it does not feel like a hospital, perhaps this is due to the dcor of the hospital or the staff. You are made to feel welcome; it is like checking into a hotel."
Lectures within the Al Khor Hospital medical facility are organised regularly for the benefit of the physicians and medical staff.
On May 29, Dr Mohammad Ilyas Khan will speak about "Clinical Guidelines for the Establishment of Exclusive Breastfeeding."
© The Peninsula 2006
