DOHA: A recent decision of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) reserving some primary health centres exclusively for citizens has contributed to the crowding at Al Sadd Pediatric Emergency, a senior official has said.
With access to some popular health centres in Doha now restricted to Qataris, many expatriates find it easier to go to a hospital, instead of a health centre in another area, director of the Al Sadd Pediatric Emergency Dr Khalid Al Ansari told a local Arabic daily.
“Normally we receive about 1,500 visitors daily and this has gone up to 1,700 since the beginning of winter,” said Al Ansari.
A rise in respiratory illnesses during winter is another factor causing a surge in the number of visitors during this season.
“We have been advising families to go to the health centres for non-emergency cases. Some children come here accompanied by six or seven people, other than the parents. This is not good since crowding at health facilities can transmit diseases,” said Al Ansari.
He said the Al Sadd Pediatric Emergency has been expanding continuously.
“Last year we opened the Al Daain centre. However, we need to create more awareness among people so that they would stop going to an emergency facility for minor illnesses,” he said.
The Al Sadd facility has 110 doctors and more than 400 nurses, which the official said is sufficient to meet current requirements.
“In each shift we have five to 10 doctors. The waiting time is 30 minutes to one hour, while it ranges from three to four hours internationally,” said the official.
He said the recently introduced short stay clinic, catering to children needing brief treatment, had received wide acceptance from the public
“Instead of keeping children in the hospital for four to five days, they are transferred to the short stay clinics, where they get medicines and go home,” he said.
About 1,000 patients have already been transferred to these clinics in this manner. “Next month, we are going to add five new outpatient clinics for children. We are also expanding the clinic catering to Qatari patients,” he added.
He said the Al Sadd Pediatric Emergency has also plans to introduce electronic filing system, similar to what was implemented at the Hamad General Hospital.
The Peninsula
