From being named one of the best in the world to launching new hospitals and world-class medical services, Qatar’s healthcare sector has seen many remarkable developments in the last three years.
Despite the blockade imposed on Qatar, the healthcare sector is firmly committed to providing the highest levels of medical care for everyone, and over the years Qatar has made significant investments in health care infrastructure, as well as promoting a comprehensive approach to the health of everyone in Qatar.
Qatar’s health sector was quick to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with preparations to tackle the situation, the efforts varied from establishing field hospitals, quarantine mechanisms, and preparations in the intensive care units. The strategy of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to contain COVID-19, reduce mortality, and clinical readiness to the deal with the increased number of cases while emphasising the preservation of the elderly, and this goes in parallel with the increase in examinations and investigation teams that aim to find infection chains.
The health sector has developed from being the best in the region to adding new facilities and service to cater the need of people. Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank declared Qatar’s healthcare system the best in Middle East and the fifth best in the world. Qatar is the only country in the region to feature on the top 5 list of the Legatum Prosperity Index, behind Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan and Switzerland in 2019. Also Qatar was ranked 13th in the world in 2018.
The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the premier healthcare provider, has moved from strength to strength opening several hospitals and other facilities during this period.
HMC has completed a major part of renovation and upgrade works at the Surgical Specialty Center, located in the former Women’s Hospital, has been completed and it was aiming to make it fully operational by early 2021.
Once completed, several surgical services will be relocated to the new facility, including orthopaedic surgery, vascular surgery, urology, and organ transplantation.
In the beginning of 2020, the Daam Specialised Care Center was officially opened. The new specialist facility provide round-the-clock care to elderly Qatari patients who no longer need to be in hospital but require long-term, inpatient medical care. The new facility will accommodate 68 patients and provide occupational therapy, recreational therapy, physiotherapy, and medical and nursing care, all in a comfortable environment. The Daam Specialised Care Center joins HMC’s existing Enaya Specialised Care Centers, which have been caring for patients since 2010.
By end of 2019, HMC opened the new Trauma and Emergency Centre, providing a number of services to patients. The new centre one of the largest in the region will lead to a significant expansion of trauma and emergency services in Qatar, ranging from trauma, urgent and critical care, to short stay and walk-in services.
In May 2019, HMC’s 13 facilities and services were accredited by the US-based Joint Commission International (JCI) by achieving the “Gold Seal” of approval in recognition of their quality of care. Of the 13 facilities, eight, including the Hamad Dental Center and the Mental Health Service, received the accreditation for the first time.
The Trauma System has also been successfully reaccredited by Accreditation Canada International (ACI) and awarded the Trauma Distinction Award of Excellence.
HMC’s new Tobacco Control Center opened in 2019, playing an important role in the fight to curb smoking in the community.
In June 2018, HMC inaugurated two new services, including a state-of-the-art Cardiac MRI Suite at Heart Hospital and a new chemotherapy robotic pharmacy at the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research.
Shortly afterwards, HMC officially opened its Stroke Service Unit, which is part of the new Neuroscience Institute at Hamad General Hospital. The facility features a Rapid Access Stroke Unit and a Secondary Stroke Prevention Clinic, which combined to provide an innovative and comprehensive approach to stroke care through early diagnosis and faster assessment and treatment.
By the ends of 2018, opened Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, bringing care closer to the workers in Industrial Area .
In December 2018, new Central Clinical Laboratories at the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute were inaugurated.
HMC also opened phase two of Hamad General Hospital’s state-of-the-art surgical services expansion, which was part of HMC’s busiest expansion programme in more than a decade.
It included 16 rooms to receive patients from wards, 30 recovery rooms, a dedicated nurse’s station, coference room and enhanced staff areas.
Three state-of-the-art facilities opened at the Hamad Medical City complex, in December 2017, the year when the blockade began.
They included the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, the Ambulatory Care Centre and Women’s Wellness and Research Centre, providing patients with access to an unprecedented level of care by increasing bed capacity, improving services and granting faster access to specialised treatment.
The new hospitals represented the biggest expansion of healthcare facilities in the history of Qatar and were a central part of the country’s commitment to providing patients with the safest, most effective and most compassionate care.
Besides, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) opened a number of new health centres across Qatar. Last year, PHCC opened new centres in Muaither, Al Wajba, Al Waab and Qatar University. In addition, PHCC has continued to expand its Bowel and Cancer Screening suites.
PHCC continued to offer its services and rolled out the family medicine concept all across the health centres. The siege also failed to make any impact in the pharmaceuticals sector as well.
Despite having its traditional sources of supply from some blockading countries before the blockade, the health sector suffered no shortage of any medicine. The country was successful in finding alternative supply sources, by striking deals with bigger pharma companies across the world. They were willing to export high-quality medicines to Qatar at cheaper rates than those supplied by companies in the blockading countries.
Within the three years of the blockade, a number of strategies have been launched and implementation started including the Qatar National Health Strategy 2018-2022, Qatar National Dementia Plan 2018-22, Qatar National Mental Health Strategy 2018-2022 and PHCC Corporate Strategy Plan 2019-2023, among others.
Sidra Medicine, part of Qatar Foundation and an ultrahigh tech speciality hospital for women, young and children became fully operational with its official opening in November 2018. Some of the services at Sidra are available for the first time in the country and the region and has conducted a many complicated surgeries and procedures successfully.
