Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has appointed Dr Essa Mubarak al-Sulaiti as the first medical director of its Homecare Services Department.
Dr al- Sulaiti has commenced work on a comprehensive plan to improve the range of services to patients in their homes. The plan is aimed at hiring new Qatari physicians and increasing the number of doctors serving in different specialities in the department, including general and geriatric medicine, to meet the demands of increasing number of patients requiring home care services.
The Homecare Services Department currently has four physicians specialising in general and geriatric medicine, in addition to one paediatrician.      
Dr al-Sulaiti graduated from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1987. He then joined the Department of General Medicine at HMC where he worked from 1988 to 1994. He later joined the Department of Geriatrics at Rumailah Hospital, after achieving both Arab and Irish Board certification in general medicine. Dr al-Sulaiti has been a consultant in the Homecare Service since 2003.   
According to Dr al-Sulaiti, the Homecare Service was initially based on nursing care with doctors only providing support to follow up on cases. However, he said doctors now contribute to the development of home care policies and decision-making processes, which has enhanced the quality of care and improved patient services.    
Dr al-Sulaiti described HMC’s home care services as a mode of delivering care to patients who do not require acute care, such as those suffering from bed sores, outside of the hospital setting. “This mode of care helps in easing pressure on the busy emergency departments, as well as in reducing the number of hospital admissions.”
“Each patient under our services is visited at home once a month by a team of 3 to 5 professionals, including nurses, a physician, one dietician and one physiotherapist, if needed. Normally, the visit lasts between 45 minutes to one hour for stable patients,” he said, adding that the patient’s schedule can be changed by increasing the number of visits when required.
Homecare services are available daily from 7am to 3pm for elderly patients, aged from 60 years and above and children with chronic diseases and disabilities. Around 1,000 elderly patients and 70 children from across Qatar are currently being cared for under the service.
“The Homecare Service at HMC has witnessed tremendous developments since its official launch in 2003, as we strive to provide our services in accordance with the highest international standards. This has enabled us to achieve Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation in 2009 and 2012, and we are currently working on delivering more improvements to patient care services to achieve our third JCI accreditation this year,” Dr al-Sulaiti added.



Related Story