DOHA: After complaints about the recently-introduced triage system in health centres, the Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC) has announced a review and said that no patient will be sent back without being attended to.
The triage system means a classification of the visitors based on their health condition, which apparently has led to delays and possible denial of services in some non-urgent cases.
However, priority will be given to urgent cases and patients who come with appointments.
PHCC said yesterday it is reviewing the triage system in health centres, “to evaluate it and develop it to suit the needs of visitors and patients”.
Dr Samya Al Abdulla, Deputy Executive Director for Operation at PHCC said that there is some criticism of the system, “which has been handled by a dedicated team, which is communicating with visitors and investigating.” She added that most of the criticism results from a misunderstanding of the nature of triage system.
Some visitors coming to the health centres request to be transferred to the hospital for the purpose of doing elective operations such as cosmetic surgery, ask for treatment for non-urgent cases, or for sick leave or medicine.
She said that the system has been successfully applied in all major primary health care centres except Um Salal and Al Muntazah centres, where it will be applied when they move to new buildings.
It is also not applied in Alkraanh, Al Jmaileya and Al Ghwariya health centres because they are small centres and have fewer visitors.
The patients are classified according three criteria and priorities. First priority is given to emergency cases which cannot be treated at the centre.
After immediate medical intervention, the medical team will maintain the stability of the case until the ambulance arrives to transfer the patient to a public hospital.
Second priority is given to urgent cases, which can be treated in health centres and are attended to by a doctor. Third priority is given to cases that do not require urgent care, that are given appointments on the same day.
The elderly, children under five and the disabled are exempted from this requirement. The Peninsula
