Women’s Hospital takes steps to raise healthcare standard

Hamad Medical Corporation’s Women’s Hospital has announced several key changes, including the establishment of a dedicated Observation Unit, intended to raise standards of care and enhance the overall experience of patients and their families. The 250-bed Women’s Hospital delivers a very large obstetric service and is responsible for the vast majority of births in Qatar. It has, in the last year alone, helped deliver around 17,000 babies, which is an average of about 46 births per day, making it one of the busiest of HMC’s eight hospitals. Its mission, according to HMC’s managing director, Dr Hanan al-Kuwari, is to provide high quality health services that meet the needs of women and newborn babies, including those requiring the most specialised care. “The dedicated Women’s Hospital team has done a phenomenal job given the huge increase in demand on its services over the past few years. Our population is growing and becoming more diverse and consequently our specialist obstetrics and gynaecological services need to grow and achieve the highest standards to satisfy this increased demand.” The recent establishment of a new six-bed Observation Unit is one of several key elements in the hospital’s broad transformation programme, designed to provide high-quality, personalised care for patients. The Women’s Hospital Observation Unit is part of the Emergency Department (ED). It is dedicated to caring for patients who are well enough to have been discharged from the ED but require further medical observation in a safe and comfortable environment nearby. Another key benefit to patients has been the remodelling of emergency care facilities and processes to reduce waiting times. Average waiting times for emergency care in the Women’s Hospital have been more than halved and are now meeting international benchmarks of best practice.   “As part of a comprehensive programme of improvements, we are bringing increasingly specialised skills to our Women’s Hospital for the benefit of our patients,” said David Astley, Chief of the Tertiary Hospitals Group at HMC. “We are delighted to welcome Professor David Barlow to our team of strategic clinical experts. He brings with him wide international experience of the best health service standards, which we aim to offer women and children as we develop to become an academic health system.” Professor David Barlow was appointed director of Women’s Services for HMC and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Services at the Women’s Hospital. He has more than 35 years experience in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, including 27 years as a consultant. “I am excited to be able to channel my experience of strategic development of women’s services towards the implementation of integrated services throughout HMC,” commented professor Barlow. “I’m pleased to work with such a dedicated team within HMC and share my experience gained from many years in top academic healthcare systems in the UK. I also look forward to co-operating more with our partners in Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar and Sidra to ensure the benefits from collaboration and integration reach all our patients.” Dr Hilal al-Rifai, medical director of the Women’s Hospital, and assistant professor of Clinical Paediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar (WCMC-Q), expressed his delight at the future for healthcare services. “There have been major international developments in obstetric and gynaecological treatments. With Professor Barlow’s substantial experience, we have a tremendous opportunity to bring an integrated approach to the delivery of high-standard, evidence-based women’s healthcare throughout HMC,” said Dr al-Rifai.