Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI) has unveiled a series of notable enhancements to its paediatric and neuromusculoskeletal patient care services.
As part of this ongoing commitment to elevate healthcare standards, QRI invested in its Outpatient Paediatric Speech Therapy Clinic expansion, the renovated Paediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, and the introduction of a state-of-the-art Physiotherapy Gym dedicated to neuromusculoskeletal patients.
Senior executives from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), including acting assistant managing director and chief of Tertiary Hospitals Group at HMC, Ali al-Janahi, chief medical officer, Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, and acting chief nursing officer, Mariam al-Mutawa, toured these facilities recently.
Dr Hanadi al-Hamad, deputy chief, Long-Term Care, Rehabilitation, and Geriatrics at HMC emphasised that while this phase of service improvements primarily targeted paediatric services, the needs of older patients with musculoskeletal conditions were duly considered.
"As people age, maintaining musculoskeletal health and mobility becomes more challenging and conditions like sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and arthritis become more prevalent. Approximately half of our physiotherapy patients in the outpatient clinics are older patients with neuromusculoskeletal conditions," noted Dr al-Hamad.
"The newly established physiotherapy gym is a specialised facility catering to older patients enabling us to provide more specialised care delivered by experts in their respective fields. The new facility will allow us to reduce waiting times from more than five weeks previously to about 14 days once fully operational.”
The refurbished Paediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, situated on the fourth floor, offers outstanding services tailored to the unique needs of children in Qatar. With 14 individual rooms, including two executive rooms, the unit provides daily intensive therapy sessions delivered by highly specialised therapists. Unique colour patterns and designs, suitable for an ambiance of playfulness and calmness, automatic sliding doors, and state-of-the-art technologies, characterise the revamped paediatric inpatient rehabilitation area. Dedicated rooms for speech and language development are equipped with innovative devices and educational toys.
Dr Mahmoud Abeidah, head of the Paediatrics Rehabilitation Department at QRI, said: "Our focus is on delivering excellent care that includes an amazing infrastructure designed to facilitate customised rehabilitation for our patients. The facility boasts an ultramodern gym with equipment such as a state-of-the-art robotic treadmill training system for assisted walking or gait training, an overhead hoist for safer exercise practices, and various tools for physical and occupational therapy.”
The newly commissioned multi-purpose area is used for case conferences and interdisciplinary services like Visual Gait Analysis for orthosis prescription, sensory-based feeding activities in group session and evening group activities. For children diagnosed with feeding and swallowing disorders, the dysphagia team conducts consultations in a dedicated clinic room, providing tailored feeding therapies.
The Outpatient Paediatric Speech Therapy Clinic expansion addresses the growing demand for improving paediatric patients' ability to communicate effectively. With six additional rooms, the clinic aims to reduce waiting times from referral to professional assessment, as well as from assessment to treatment and follow-ups.
