WWRC Emergency Department provides fast access to patients

The Women’s Wellness and Research Centre’s ( WWRC) Emergency Department has surpassed international benchmark by offering fast access and immediate care to patients needing emergency medical care.

“The women’s emergency at the WWRC has been a unique concept that has revolutionised the care of pregnant and non-pregnant women in the country. It is one of the busiest emergency departments in Qatar and one of the busiest of its kind in the world, with more than 70,000 visits a year,” noted, Dr Hilal al-Rifai, WWRC acting chief executive officer and medical director. Dr al-Rifai explained, “Part of the efforts to improve services in the face of the rapid increase in the country’s population was to triage patients with priority 1 to 5 soon after arrival to ED through a special triage system using the Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS). The WWRC’s ED has exceeded all CTAS benchmarks, ensuring all categories of patients are seen quickly. 100% of category 1 patients (those with the most critical conditions) are seen immediately, without delay, and 98% of category 2 patients are seen within 15 minutes.” “We developed a triage clinic led by specialist physicians for category 5 patients, those with minor conditions not requiring emergency treatment. Patients are counselled and advised to report to their registered primary health center for their complaints that do not require a specialised emergency service. In March 2019, we started a Telephone Triage Clinic via a hotline to reduce unnecessary visits to ED. The 24/7 telephone hotline 4026 1091 is a physician-led service designed to provide high quality advice to clients with different complaints and to relay laboratory and ultrasound results to them thus saving patients from making unnecessary trips to the hospital,” he continued. Hamad Medical Corporation operates a unique emergency services system, as one of the only countries in the world to have a separate, dedicated women’s emergency department. As the largest women’s tertiary hospital in the country, the WWRC is equipped with the best diagnostic tools and equipment as well as an expanded visitor waiting areas. The hospital features different specialties ranging from general internal medicine to integrated care for diabetes in pregnancy, urogynecology, breast care, hematology, obstetrics/gynaecology, gyne-oncology, cardiac, mental health wellbeing, specialized newborn clinics amongst other clinics.Dr al- Rifai noted that the WWRC’s emergency services is available 24/7 for all women in real and urgent need of care. “Our scope of services includes dedicated emergency to women from preconception to childbirth, post-natal care, to their wellness and beyond the reproductive phase of life. With our specialised consultants and specialist doctors on site running the service around the clock, our ED provides safe, compassionate and high quality of care. The ED is staffed with 112 specialised nurses, working like the doctors in a shift system,” added.