FROM LEFT: Babekir Osman, General Manager, Hawkama Center; Hassan Al Hail, Executive Director, HMC; Shaikha Ali Al Qahtani, Director of Nursing, HMC; Dr. Yousef Al Maslamani, Medical Director, HGH; Thaher Bashtawi, Healthcare Manager, QDS; and Nabila Temr
DOHA: The specialist multi-disciplinary Wound Care Service at Hamad General Hospital (HGH) has seen an increase in the number of patients treated annually from 800 to 1,500, said a senior official yesterday.
The number has increased due to the impact of increasing population and awareness about specialised care, Shaikha Ali Al Qahtani, Director of Nursing for Wound Care, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), told a press conference held to announce Qatar’s First International Wound Management Conference.
The Wound Care Service was established in 2009 as part of the mobile Services administration at HGH and has cared more than 5,000 patients to date.
“At the beginning we received about 800 patients a year. At that time people didn’t know that there is a specialised service to take care of them. But now people, especially Qataris, are confident about our services and we received around 1,500 patients last year,” said Al Qahtani.
The Wound Care Service has evolved into a modern and advanced medical specialisation aimed at providing quality service that contributes to healing serious and chronic wounds to avoid dangerous complications.
Service teams are available at all HMC hospitals and treat patients for diabetic wounds, post-surgery wounds, chronic wounds due to dermatology problems, those sustained in road accidents and injuries on construction sites.
“We have a multidisciplinary team, including trauma specialists, consultants, nurses, dermatologists and dietitians. We treat all types of wounds such as those due to skin problems, post-surgical wounds and a high number of diabetic wounds due to the prevalence of the disease. We treat small to very chronic wounds and help patients have a comfortable healing process,” she added.
The conference will discuss advanced treatment methods which could help improve wound care. It will feature workshops on topics relevant wound prevention, treatment and management. The conference will gather more than 800 local and international experts between November 24 and 26 at Qatar National Convention Center.
Dr. Yousef Al Masalamani, Medical Director, HGH, said the conference is timely due to the impact of Qatar’s increasing population.
“With population growth, Qatar has seen an increase in the number of road traffic accidents and construction site injuries. To help respond to this, HGH introduced a specialised multi-disciplinary, inpatient and outpatient Wound Care Service.
“The conference, which has attracted elite speakers from around the word, aims at supporting continuing education in wound care evidence–based practices to provide comprehensive information on various aspects of clinical and practical care.” All local delegates participating in the conference will qualify for continues professional development hours as part of requirements for Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners.
