DOHA: Private health care facilities in Qatar grew by 46 percent last year compared to the previous year, which represents the highest growth over the past four years, says the 2014 annual report of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) released yesterday.
The SCH licensed 219 private sector facilities in 2014, 46 percent more compared to 2013 and 58 percent more than in 2012. The annual increase was the largest since 2011.
To meet the immediate demand for more healthcare facilities, the SCH, Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC) and the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) have undertaken 118 projects. The SCH is expanding the Medical Commission (MC) facilities for conducting the mandatory health check up for newly recruited expatriate workers. Facilities for single male workers (SML) are also being expanded.
The lowest health expenditure was reported among expatriate blue-collar workers due to the availability of free care and increasing facilities catering to this segment, said the report. The SCH has outsourced the operation of five SML facilities to the private sector by 2014. By 2016, the SCH and PHCC will be outsourcing the operation of over 10 other facilities, said the report. By 2022, the number of public hospitals, health centers and MC facilities will almost double to 66, from 35 in 2014. The number of hospital beds will grow to 4,701from 2,100 in 2014. The SCH is building seven MC facilities, six of which will be integrated with SML health centers and hospitals.
The SCH is building five SML health centers, and the PHCC is building 20 community and other health centers. These will increase access to tailored primary care services for people in remote areas.
One third of new SCH, PHCC and HMC facilities will be situated outside of Doha where a quarter of the population lives. The SCH is building three state-of-the-art hospitals for single workers attached to SML health centers.
HMC is building eight hospitals focusing on communicable diseases, rehabilitation, outpatient clinical procedures, psychiatry and obstetrics. These will centralise specialised services and minimise overnight hospitalisation.
SCH is building a five-star behavioural disorder centre, a national reference laboratory, and two food testing branches.
HMC is building 13 specialised facilities for paediatric therapy, blood donation, paediatric care, and outpatient services. These will reduce crowding and waiting times, said the report.
In 2014, SCH outsourced over 10 percent of MC examinations to private providers, including private hospitals and Qatar Red Crescent Society, long-standing provider of healthcare.
The number of Medical Commission tests grew by 7 percent since 2013 and 22 since 2012 proportionate to the growth in expatriate population.
The number of key services in primary health centres grew by two percent since 2013 and 18 since 2012. The largest increase was in laboratory tests, driven by growth in specialised tests.
However, the number of visitors to primary health centres dropped probably due to implementation of Seha, National Health Insurance Scheme, which expanded coverage to all nationals last year, said the report.
The number of key services in public hospitals grew by six percent since 2013 and 22 since 2012.
Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP) under SCH approved 2,344 new licences in 2014, two-thirds in the private sector. It introduced the first provisional licences for practitioners last year and issued 542 by December 31.
The number of physicians at primary health centres and public hospitals grew by 24 percent since 2013 and 35 since 2012 while the number of nurses grew by 8 percent since 2013 and 23 since 2012.
The number of clinics and hospitals providing Seha increased to 177 in 2014, from eight in 2013, with 168 in the private sector. Seha inpatient admissions and outpatient visits increased to 721,397 from 31,064 in 2013.
The expenditure of SCH, PHCC, HMC and QCHP grew by 28 percent during financial year 2013-14, up 65 percent since financial year 2011-12, said the report.The Peninsula
