DOHA: The pediatric emergency units of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will be implementing new rules from April 1 to avoid children being brought in unaccompanied by their parents, a senior official has disclosed.
From that date, children seeking treatment at the facilities must be accompanied by a parent, and not the driver or maid, to receive medical treatment, local Arabic daily Al Raya reported yesterday quoting Dr Mohammad Al Amri, assistant director of Pediatric Emergency at HMC.
However, emergency cases that require immediate intervention will be treated without delays, but other cases will be handled differently.
A preliminary checkup will be carried out to ensure the case is stable, but the patient will be treated only when a parent shows up, he added.
“The new rule does not mean that the emergency units will ask the children to go home without being examined as it would be highly unethical,” said Al Amri.
He said the new rule has become necessary as it is noticed that several children have been brought in by drivers and domestic helps and that their parents did not show up.
Doctors are at times baffled as they want during the observation and examination specific answers about the children, including their medical history and possible allergies, but they cannot have the answers from the drivers or maids, he said. The Peninsula
