By FAZEENA SALEEM
DOHA: Primary Health Centres in the country will start providing emergency care by the end of this year, in an important move that will help reduce the rush at the Emergency Department of the Hamad Medical Corporation.
A senior official of the Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC) told this daily yesterday that new initiative is part of an ambitious plan to improve and expand the services of health centres.
As part of the PHCC strategy for continuous improvement, a new initiative has been approved for equipping primary health centres with facilities to provide emergency services to the community by the end of this year, PHCC’s Managing Director Dr Mariam Abdulmalik said in an email interview.
The remarks came in reply to a question why more people preferred the Emergency Department at HMC to the health centres. “The emergency cases presented to the HMC need medical treatment for sub-specialities, not available at PHCC health centres as per its scope of services,” explained Abdulmalik.
The five-year primary health care strategy launched last year has recommended establishment of urgent care treatment rooms in health centres and a helpline to support people with emergency care over telephone.
The official said the number of people seeking treatment at primary health centres is increasing every day and there is more demand for new services.
“The primary health care centres in the future will play a key role in ensuring that the most common health care needs of the population are met locally in the community….”
“This means more and bigger health centres and it also means that the hospital sector will be freed to concentrate on providing specialised services,” said Abdulmalik.
Six primary health centres will be involved in the mandatory health insurance scheme by the end of March this year, she added.
“Our health centres are being equipped with necessary computer systems to manage patients’ records in the right way, and the electronic processing of insurance claims.
“Then our staff will be trained in the these systems with support from National Health Insurance Company administrators.”
“More health centres will join implementing the insurance scheme when its second and third phases are put into operation,” said Abdulmalik.
As part of expanding its services health centres will help people preventing and controlling lifestyle diseases and other chronic illnesses along with screening programs as a step to reduce the burden on hospitals.
“Services will include health promoting activities such as helping people to quit smoking, reduce weight, screen for illnesses such as breast and colorectal cancer and proactive management for long term diseases like diabetes,” said Abdulmalik.
Health centres will also play a major role in implementing the National Mental Health Strategy, in identifying people with mental disorders. Centres will function as the first point of contact for the patient.
Healthcare professionals at health canters will identify and treat mild and moderate mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Doctors at the PHCC will be trained to identify people with common mental disorders, a system will be developed to provide continuous treatment for such patients and an appointment system will be introduced for such patients at health centres.
Four new health centres will be opened in 2014-2015 and another 11 centres are likely to open in the coming years, according to Dr Abdulmalik.
The Qatar Red Crescent will be in charge of operating primary health centres being set up exclusively for low-income expatriate workers and two such centres have already been opened.
The Peninsula
