Aisha bint Hamad Al Attiyah Hospital, the second largest hospital under Hamad Medical Corporation, opened in 2022. PIC: RAJAN VADAKKEMURIYIL
Qatar has established a vast healthcare system of global standards as the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and its partners have continued to improve healthcare for people in the country in line with strategies aimed at achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.
As part of its continued efforts, the healthcare sector witnessed great achievements during the year. The healthcare system in Qatar has continued the process of development, improvement and progress in achieving its strategic goals, as more than 90 percent of the outputs of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 were archived this year.
The strategy includes 54 projects and 16 national goals emphasising on prevention, wellness, improving access to care and providing services in a more consistent and integrated manner.
Delivering smooth healthcare services during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 to fans without any disruption in day to day services was a also great accomplishment.
In addition to the services available at regular healthcare facilities, health services were provided to fans through more than 100 clinics in stadiums, fan areas and accommodations, 110 ambulances, and 212 mobile medical units. Some 2,275 employees worked in providing health services at the World Cup sites, while four hospitals affiliated to Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) were allocated for urgent non-emergency patients.
An average of 1,000 patients were seen at clinics dedicated for fans during the tournament and best services were provided to meet their needs.
In other areas, several new facilities and services were introduced and the health sector obtained international accreditations, as a result of continuous efforts by MoPH.
In 2022, all municipalities of Qatar received the title of Health City from the WHO in addition to Education City at Qatar Foundation received the title of Healthy Education City and Qatar University received the title of Healthy University.
The Ministry received international accreditation for public health services at the national level from the American Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), for a period of five years, thus making Qatar the first country in the world to receive this international accreditation after the United States.
HMC’s Trauma and Emergency Center was expanded during 2022.
In a major achievement, Hamad Medical Corporation won the grand prize in the field of epidemiological response presented by the Arab Hospitals Federation in March 2022.
Five facilities and services at HMC received the Patient Satisfaction and Service Excellence Award in March 2022, including the Communicable Disease Center, Home Health Care Services, Private Nursing Service, Daycare Centre, and Enaya Specialised Care Center, which was part of a two-year pilot program to receive the Patient Satisfaction and Service Excellence Award by Planetree international.
The Ministry also obtained international accreditation for food safety management from the American Accreditation Board (AAB) in the field of inspection of imported and local food and local facilities, according to the “ISO 17020” system. The ministry’s central food laboratories had previously received renewed international recognition from the AAB.
The number of hospitals in the public sector increased to 16 in 2022 and the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) now operates health centres throughout the country.
Opening of Aisha bint Hamad Al Attiyah Hospital, which is the second largest hospital in Hamad Medical Corporation after Hamad General Hospital in terms of size and capacity, is one of the main additions to the health sector this year.
Several other facilities were also opened and established at HMC, including Al Maha Pediatric Specialized Care Center, the permanent intensive care unit, the physiotherapy and orthopaedic unit, a specialised smoking cessation clinic, the Advanced Wound Care Center, as well as the expansion of the area dedicated to assessing the female health status in HMC’s Trauma and Emergency Center centre by 60 percent, expanding Speech Therapy Unit for children with the addition of 12 treatment rooms at Qatar Rehabilitation Center.
The number of health centres, including centres affiliated with the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) managed by the Qatar Red Crescent in accordance with an agreement with the Ministry increased to 33 centres in 2022.
Also the private health sector witnessed a significant expansion — number of facilities increased during 2022 and reached 10 hospitals, 19 day surgery centres, 390 general and specialised health centres, including dental centres, in addition to 31 diagnostic centres, including medical laboratories, diagnostic radiology centres, and dental laboratories.
The number of health workers in the public and private sectors has also increased to 46,371 in 2022.
In e-health services, several achievements were made including efficient use of MyHealth Patient Portal which enables patients to access their electronic medical files directly via the internet; Nar’aakom application for the services at PHCC; and other important projects such as the electronic system for pharmacy management and drug control, and the participation of the ministry, represented by the administration of the Medical Commission (MC), in the project of fingerprinting, vital data and conducting medical examination for expats in their countries.
As a result of improving and raising the level of public health among individuals, through an integrated and comprehensive system that provides effective and sustainable solutions to current and future challenges to public health, in cooperation between all health sectors, overall increased life expectancy is witnessed in Qatar.
