HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE Minister of Health Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani and HMC managing director Dr Hanan al-Kuwari with other HMC staff during the recent inauguration of the National Centre for Diabetes Treatment at the Hamad General Hospital.
By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter
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A diabetes treatment unit will be opened at the Al Wakra Hospital next year as part of plans to replicate the recently-launched National Centre for Diabetes Treatment across all hospitals within the Hamad Medical Corporation.
The centres for diabetes treatment are designed as a “one-stop shop” where patients can consult specialist doctors and nutrition experts, renew prescriptions and learn about ways to manage their condition.
The first centre for diabetes care was launched at the Hamad General Hospital recently. Two rooms have been set apart at the centre to diabetes research where patients will be interviewed in order to generate data about the pathos-genesis of the condition.
“We are going to have the model of the comprehensive diabetes care centre, which is a patient-centred model, replicated in all HMC hospitals as we believe it will be easy for the medical team to care for the patients under one roof,” HMC Internal Medicine department chair Prof Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra said yesterday while responding to a question on the importance of such a facility.
According to him, already existing is a similar but smaller facility at the Dialysis Centre which has specialists for foot care as well as dietitians looking after patients.
“Diabetes needs multiple professionals to care for the patient as the condition is a life long one unlike other diseases or conditions,” he said.
“One patient may require eye-screening from an ophthalmologist, foot screening from a podiatrist as well as instructions from a diabetes educator or dietitian and he could be given up to six different appointments. This could be very frustrating for some patients,” he said, explaining the advantages of the newly-opened centre.
He stated that there were many diabetes patients who did not have access to professionals, judging by the number of people on the waiting list.
There are presently up to 2,000 people, with first appointments fully booked for the next six months, waiting to see professionals at the new centre at the Hamad hospital, Abou-Samra said.
The new centre, which is serving as a model for a multi-disciplinary approach to caring for diabetics, is an example of HMC’s focus on integrating education and research with clinical care.
Treating patients during morning and early evening clinics, the new facility offers a range of services, including foot care, counselling, blood investigation and insulin pump therapy.
About 20,000 patient visits are expected at the facility this year.
The centre will also house research teams who are studying evidence-based strategies for the treatment and prevention of diabetes and its complications.
“Through the centre, we will conduct a variety of researches in order to understand the pathos-genesis of the disease among the population here and in the entire region. We will run random research for new medications and complications affecting the eyes, foot and kidneys,” he said, adding that there were plans to train professionals at the diabetes centres.
