Doha: The number of patients visiting the Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has gone up to more than 7,000 in a year.
There are 75 specialists in five clinics in the department. They use different instruments and equipment to treat patients. The equipment include special type of chairs for children. The department makes more than 200 chairs every year.
Specialists use a special computer software to develop skills of children with mental problems or limited physical movement.
Children having problem in swallowing food or in arms or legs are also treated at the department. Physiotherapists having specialisation in different areas treat these children.
Dr Alla Al Sheikh, Specialist at the Physiotherapy Section, said in an interview with the Arabic daily Al Raya that the new Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Hospital is expected to be opened next year in Hamad Medical City.
It will make significant difference in physiotherapy treatments as it will have 200 beds.
Forty will be for patients having problem related to bones, 40 for those with apoplexy, heart and blood problems, 40 for people with spinal cord problems, 40 for those with broken bones in the skull and 40 for children.
The hospital will also have a section for hydrotherapy which will be the longest in the GCC region. Outpatient Patient Department clinics at the hospital include 12 rooms for physiotherapy, four halls for sports, a section for education and support and another for organ transplant and laboratory.
He said the hospital will meet the needs of other hospitals.
According to him, one of the problems the department faces is lack of awareness about physiotherapy, especially with regard to newborns and children.
Around 90 percent of patients are not aware about the nature, role and importance of physiotherapy, he added.
There are three main reasons which force a person to opt for physiotherapy.
First, the incapability of the brain to have enough oxygen during the time of delivery which causes brain to function improperly.
Second is accident and the third illness. It is important to have specialists to identify problems as it makes physiotherapy more effective, but if there is no proper identification of a problem then it would make physiotherapy more difficult and the patient will take more time to recover.
He said the role of physiotherapy is not to cure the organ 100 percent but to recover it as much as possible. The course of physiotherapy differs from patient to patient. Some may need it for a few weeks and others for entire life. He said families should be aware about the needs of the patients. The Peninsula
