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Join Date: 05 Mar 2015
Location:  QatarPosts: 27 |
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Three hospitals for expat single workers soon |
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Three hospitals for expat single workers soon
DOHA: There is a gap in the provision of health care services to the large number of expatriate single workers in the country and this will be addressed with the opening of three hospitals exclusively for this segment by early next year, Minister of Public Health H E Abdullah bin Khalid Al Qahtani has said. A new workers-only health centre in Mesaimeer is also getting final touches. It will have a unit of the Medical Commission, among other facilities. The three hospitals will be located in the Industrial Area, Mesaieed Industrial City and Ras Laffan. “This year and the beginning of next year will witness opening of these (three) hospitals and they will provide quality services to the workers,†said Al Qahtani addressing a press conference on Monday. “The project of Mesaimeer health centre is completed, but some work related to electricity is still remaining,†he added. Once the new health care facilities becomes operational the ‘gap’ in services to single workers is expected to be filled. “Labourers represent significant proportion of the population and they are an important sector. Therefore the sate and the companies are responsible for providing them with complete health services,†said Al Qahtani. “There is a gap in services to these workers; therefore we started implementing a number of projects like the Mesaimeer health centre,†he added. He said Qatar Petroleum will start a new healthcare project in Ras Laffan Industrial City this month. Al Qahtani has said that he personally looks into every complaint about services of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and work with HMC officials to solve them. HMC receives an average of 40 complaints every month, all of which are seen by the Minister. “I personally and Dr Hanan Al Kuwari (Managing Director of HMC ) make follow ups on the complaints, whether they are made directly or through newspapers or radio programmes,†said Al Qahtani at a press conference on Monday. “We are also trying to keep in touch with people who communicate with us,†he added. Making a reference to complaints about long waiting time to see a doctor at the emergency department, Al Qahtani said that a new system has been introduced to record the time a patient arrives and seen by the doctor. “Before I was asking for investigation report on complaints on delays happening at the emergency department, but now after introducing the new system which specifies the accurate time, complaints have reduced and it also gives an idea about the delays,†he said. HMC receives between 90 and 200 emails and 200 calls including inquiries and complaints in three languages. Dr Al Kuwari and Dr Mariam Abdulmalik, Managing Director, Primary Health Care Corporation, and Professor Ibrahim Ahmed Jahani, Executive Director for Medical research at HMC, were also present at the conference held on the sidelines of the fourth annual forum held to discuss the implementation and achievements of the National Health Strategy. The Minister said a tender will soon be issued to the private sector to build five new hospitals in the country. The hospitals will be built and operated by the private sector. Management of some healthcare facilities will also be outsourced to the private sector, he added. “Soon you will hear an announcement from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce inviting a bid from the private sector to build five hospitals. “In a ministerial meeting last week we agreed to allow the private sector to build and manage five hospitals,†said Al Qahtani. “So we have two models (involving private sector); In one, they will manage the existing facilities and in the other they will build and operate (the facilities),†he added. Implementation of the next phase of the National Health Insurance Scheme – Seha, covering expatriates, has been delayed due to time required for infrastructure, man power and IT related arrangements. The SCH earlier said that expatriates will be covered by the end of next year, instead of this year, as was originally scheduled. “However the delays do not affect the health services we provide. If you have a health card can access to all the service sat the HMC and primary health centres,†said Al Qahtani. Source:thepeninsulaqatar http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/341645/three-hospitals-for-expat-single-workers-soon |
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