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Tribune News Network
Doha
Sidra Medical and Research Center is in push to incorporate more services, readying the main hospital for in-patient care and recruiting over 3,500 clinical and administrative staff within two years, top officials have said.
These measures are meant to cope with the steady rise in the volume of patients Sidra has been receiving, they said. Moreover, Sidra's Outpatient Clinic will become fully operational by the end of this month.
Sidra began the phased opening of its Outpatient Clinic in May 2016 with several paediatric outpatient clinics while also offering obstetrics care. Paediatric specialties include psychiatry, dermatology, neonatology, urology, orthopaedics and plastics/craniofacial consultation clinics.
In October, Sidra launched its Day Surgery Clinic and in January 2017 launched Qatar's first Child Advocacy Program dedicated to handling cases of neglect and child abuse. By the time the rollout of all clinics and service openings is complete by this month, Sidra will have over 35 clinics and services.
The referral-based Sidra Outpatient Clinic is currently accepting patients from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) and the QF Primary Health Care Center. Sidra is collaborating closely with other healthcare institutions in Qatar to expand the referral network as more clinics and services are launched.
Meanwhile, Sidra's Outpatient Clinic has scored top marks in the organisation's internal patient satisfaction survey, seven months after opening the doors of its first clinics to the public, according to figures released on Saturday.
The survey reveal that out of more than 7,000 appointments that have taken place at the Sidra Outpatient Clinics between May and December 2016, 92 percent of patients were fully satisfied with their experience at Sidra.
Sidra Chief Executive Peter Morris said,"We are delighted with the results from our patient satisfaction survey, which is testament to Sidra's commitment to our patients."
"We collect and transparently report on patient satisfaction at the Sidra Outpatient Clinic to ensure that we continuously deliver the best quality care and safety for our patients. This is an ongoing process as we gear up to open more services and clinics until the Outpatient Clinic becomes fully operational later next month," Peter Morris added.
Since May, Sidra has been collecting data and feedback from patients following their visits to the Outpatient Clinic. Through surveys, patients are asked to rate their experience on areas including the ease of their journey from home through to their registration at the clinic, the process of getting an appointment, rating the doctors and nursing teams, comfort in the hospital building and the quality of waiting room and hospital amenities.
Highlights from the patient feedback collected include,"The care we received was more than I imagined it would be. It was excellent and I hope they continue to keep up providing such great levels of care and service to patients" (about General Surgery),"Excellent care - I felt like a VIP!" (about Orthopaedics) and"The service provided was excellent. I have yet to experience better service in other facilities" (about the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic).
One patient was so happy with the care she received from the Obstetrics team that she named her baby 'Sidra'."I really valued the exceptional care that was given to me, and it seemed fitting that I name my baby 'Sidra', a beautiful name which is also mentioned in the Holy Quran."
Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Sidra Dr Abdulla al Kaabi said,"The feedback that we receive from each patient allows us to ensure that we are identifying any gaps and concerns immediately and making necessary improvements to enhance patient experience at Sidra. The high patient rating of our doctors, nurses and the services motivates us to work harder and to ensure we maintain the best possible standards of care. This is particularly critical as we attend to a higher volume of patients."
