DOHA: Hamad General Hospital (HGH)’s Emergency Department is well prepared to provide its services during the upcoming Eid holidays, said a senior official.
All necessary steps have been taken to ensure the smooth delivery of services, Dr Aftab Mohammad Azad, Acting Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, HGH told The Peninsula.
“Obviously we expect to get more patients during holidays compared to other days. Our main goal is to ensure that operations are not affected and patients are given the best care. If it is required we can even bring in extra physicians,” said Dr Aftab.
“The team at the HGH Emergency Department as well as across HMC’s network of hospitals such as in Al Wakra, Al Khor or in the Cuban Hospital will continue to provide the highest level of patient care throughout holidays,” said Dr Aftab, who is also the Chief of Service, Department of Emergency Medicine at the Al Khor Hospital.
The number of patients seeking treatment for gastric ailments increases during holidays and traffic injury cases tend to decline. Therefore people are advised to eat moderately and people with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, cardiac problems are required to take extra precautions.
“During Eid holidays we see more patients seeking emergency treatment for gastric issues such as nausea, vomiting, stomach upset and indigestion due to overeating.
“People must refrain from overeating food items, especially meat. This can prevent gastrointestinal disorders and intestinal dysplasia and indigestion. They should also follow healthy steps when preparing food and eating it,” said Dr Aftab.
“But we don’t see a greater increase in road traffic accident cases during holidays rather sometimes it decreases because people go on vacation therefore we have less traffic, less crowd. But obviously when roads are empty some start driving little bit faster and then can end up with accidents.”
Patients have been urged to visit their designated primary health centres for non-emergency health problems. “We are always ready to receive any type of medical emergencies. But if it is a simple problem they can go to primary health centres and we can take care of the emergency cases. However, we do not turn down any patient coming to us,” said Dr Aftab.
