Emergency patient waiting time cut by 78pc

THERE has been a 78 per cent reduction in patient waiting time in the emergency department at the country’s main public hospital as of March this year.

The Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) accident and emergency (A/E) also saw 25pc fewer visitors in the waiting area and a 35pc reduction in the waiting time for a patient to see an emergency doctor.

The achievements were announced by Government Hospitals’ chief executive Dr Ahmed Al Ansari who added that work was in progress to enhance the facilities at the emergency department which receives an average of 30,000 patients a month.

He was speaking at a virtual Government Media briefing, organised yesterday by the National Communication Centre in co-operation with the Supreme Council of Health, to discuss the ‘Autonomisation Strategy of Government Hospitals in the Kingdom of Bahrain’.

“By establishing healthcare networks under the National Health Insurance Programme (Sehati), the A/E at the SMC has been developed, resulting in 78pc reduction in waiting time, 25pc reduction in overcrowding and number of visitors in the waiting area and 35pc reduction in waiting time for a patient to see an emergency doctor,” said Dr Al Ansari.

“Efforts are ongoing and work is in progress on the expansion of the A/E department.

“This includes increasing the bed capacity from the current 76 beds to 115 beds and in the recovery rooms from eight to 16 beds.”

Reiterating the efficiency of the primary and secondary healthcare services, Dr Al Ansari underlined the need for people to be aware when to reach out to the emergency department.

“We see almost 1,000 patients daily at the SMC, which is around 30,000 per month.

“A good number of them are cases that really don’t need to be at the emergency department.

“They can approach the primary and secondary healthcare services where they will be well taken care of.

“People need to realise this and act accordingly so that the time and resources of the emergency department can be used for cases that need emergency care.”

Regarding the establishment of outpatient clinics, the official said specialised evening clinics have been set up.

“This has led to reduced waiting time to book new appointments, which dropped by 41pc in the plastic surgery clinic and 64pc in the rheumatology clinic.

“Future plans of the outpatient clinics include increasing the number of medical consultations, which would include medical guidelines and task force focusing on improving patient appointment structure, mechanisms and requirements for establishing specialised clinics in primary care centres and for transferring patients from primary care centres, as well as for discharging patients from outpatient care at the SMC.

“Future plans also include priority-based appointment scheduling with guidelines for urgent cases, monitoring the appointments during waiting period and a mechanism for dealing with the repeated non-attendance by phone calls.

“Patients’ enquiries are part of the future plan by way of setting up an information desk at the Al Fateh building of SMC and also activating electronic request for doctors’ appointments and follow up.”

Other new initiatives include a training centre for staff inside SMC, ensuring effective research and teaching and infrastructure facilitating online payments.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/948178/Emergency-patient-waiting-time-cut-by-78pc