Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), in partnership with SickKids International, has established a Paediatric Complex Care Clinic that introduces a new model of care for technology-dependent children or those with medically-complex conditions.
There are plans to include in the new model the establishment of a “virtual clinic” service that will enable outpatients to help them more easily access complex care team members outside a hospital setting.
“Imagine caring for a child who has eight different medical problems, who is being treated by eight separate sub-specialties, requires home care and has difficulty reintegrating back into school and falls ill constantly,” said Dr Ahmed al-Hammadi, chairperson of the Paediatric Complex Care Task Force, which was established to lead the project.
“For parents and caregivers of children with medically-complex conditions, this is life,” he said adding: “These children are a diverse group with diagnostic conditions that are individually rare but, collectively, relatively common.”
He explained that co-ordinating care for these high-risk patients and ensuring that care is centred on the needs of the child and family is a challenging endeavour.
“If care is not optimised, it can lead to poor patient outcomes,” he maintained.
The Complex Care Clinic, located at Hamad General Hospital’s Outpatient Department, has been established with a team to manage the consequences of multiple diseases instead of focusing only on a particular disease.
Aimed at providing “consistent, constant, child-focused and family-centred care”, the clinic is fully operational.
The clinic allows for availability of medical sub-specialties for consultations.
“The clinic is staffed by a dedicated, hardworking team determined to make a positive difference in the lives of these young patients and their families,” al-Hammadi said.
The complex care team provides continuity of care for children at the inpatient ward and oversees their smooth transition into community care, providing counseling to empower families with the knowledge and capability to care for their child.
Every child has a care plan highlighting his care needs and the healthcare sub-specialty teams involved in his care.
The care plan is an electronic and written document that functions as a “medical passport” so information is shared among all the healthcare practitioners involved in the child’s care.
Commenting on the initiative, Task Force co-chairperson, Dr Reem Babiker, said: “The programme fosters collaboration and co-operation among healthcare providers in the hospital and within the community to ensure families are able to access quality healthcare at every turn.
All of these ensure continuity of care and consistent dissemination of information, which help prevent crises for high-risk children and reduce the need for hospitalisation and emergency room visits.”
SickKids International is a Canada-based hospital group that engages in global opportunities to enhance child health and build system capacity.
