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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
HAMAD Medical Corporation's (HMC) Home Health Care Service (HHCS) is currently providing care for more than 1,800 patients at their homes, according to officials.
Nurses and other staff from HMC regularly visit these patients, both adults and children, at their homes. Of these, 266 are on oxygen support and 40 on mechanical ventilators.
The service is being provided to Qataris and other nationals who are temporarily or permanently house-bound, all over the country.
The service requires a multidisciplinary collaboration within the HMC since some of these patients are bedridden while others are on percutaneous endoscopic hastrostomy (PEG) feeding, home nasogastric tube feeding, enteral feeding or on ventilator. Some of the patients are children with congenital abnormalities.
HHCS Consultant Dr Hanan al Yazeedi told Qatar Tribune that a majority of these patients have comorbidity and are long-term patients with ages ranging from 3 to 5 years or 10 years and above. She said the service has improved significantly, along with the awareness level in the community.
Yazeedi said the number of referrals for HHCS in 2014 was 1,006 and went up to 2,154 in 2017. The number of visits was 28,994 in 2014, while it was 64,545 in 2017."We make a long-term care plan and try to send patients to their home environment," said Yazeedi.
Before admitting a patient in HHCS, a multi-disciplinary team setsa care plan for him."We also provide 24-hour service for patients on mechanical ventilators. Doctors visit a patient once a year unless his condition is deteriorating or there is an emergency situation," she said.
One of the eligibility criteria to get a patient admitted to HHCS is that there should be at least one care giver at home, either a family member or a private nurse or nanny.
Unlike the inpatient service which has nurses near the patient round the clock, HHCS provides care between 7am and 8pm from Sunday to Thursday, said Yazeedi.
HHCS started service in 1998 with 300 geriatric patients and six medical staff, including two doctors and four nurses."Now, the service has 214 medical staff," added Yazeedi.
HHCS case manager from the referral management team Hendali Ebrahim said they assess the condition of the patient while he is in the hospital wherever its location may be in the country before providing service.
According to Clinical Pharmacist Fatma Mohamad, most of these patients are elderly, taking between seven to 20 medications every day. A good number of them are admitted to the HHCS after receiving treatment abroad."We review the reports from abroad and give them alternative medicines if the medicines prescribed in these countries are not available at HMC," she said.
HHCS speech therapist Tarek Omar said many of the patients referred to his department have a swallowing problem."My goal is to make sure that they are safe by modifying the food or liquids they take," he said.
HHCS respiratory therapist and team leader of respiratory therapy Zahida Mohammed al Blushi said there is a 24-hour cover for patients on mechanical ventilators, including from equipment breakdown. Her team visits such patients on a weekly basis until they are sure that the care-giver is competent to deal with situations and machines. The team visits patients on oxygen support once in a month.
