DOHA: An expert at the paediatric emergency department of the Hamad Medical Corporation has cautioned against sending sick children to a doctor unaccompanied by their parents.
Dr Hani Khalafallah, consultant at paediatric emergency, said many parents opt to send their children to the emergency unit in the care of housemaids or drivers.
He urged the authorities to bring a law making this practice an offence punishable by law.
“Sending a child to the emergency centres unaccompanied by parents is considered negligence in the legal point of view. We work with the Qatar Foundation for protection of women and children to deal with such cases,” Khalfallah said in an interview with Al Sharq.
The absence of a person who is legally responsible for the child could put the medical team in a dilemma especially if the case needs medical intervention that requires approval of the family, he added.
“This is not acceptable for a number of reasons. A driver or housemaid won’t have enough information about the problems of the child and the child cannot explain his problems himself. Neither the driver nor the housemaid may know the history of the disease or the medicines the child was using,” said Khalfallah.
“Sometimes the condition of the child may deteriorate and he may collapse,” he added.
He said the paediatric emergency department admits children unaccompanied by parents only in emergency cases. If the case is not urgent they will be sent back.
However, if the child needs urgent medical intervention, doctors take the responsibility.The Peninsula
