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Four hospitals, two clinics to be set up in Al Gharbia

Four hospitals and two clinics are being planned for the Western Region to meet the increasing demand in Al Gharbia which only has 311 hospital beds, according to the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (Haad).

Two of the hospitals will be located in Ghayathi, one in Madinat Zayed and one in Sila’a while the clinics will be in Liwa and Mirfa. The Haad capacity master plan also includes ambulance stations across the region.

There are currently only six hospitals with 311 beds, 18 clinics and five Seha dialysis centes serving the 225,000 residents of Al Gharbia. Healthcare services at present are insufficient to meet the growing demand and population of the region, which the Urban Planning Council has predicted to reach 450,000 by 2030.

The Haad figures revealed that the number of hospital beds in the region, at 2.3 per 1,000 residents, is below the Abu Dhabi average of 2.5 per 1,000 population, and way below international levels of 3.1 (US) and 3.4 (UK).

Quality of care at Western Region hospitals were also “frequently” failing Haad audits.

The number of clinicians is fairly low and is not equally distributed between districts. Liwa is extremely poorly served with only two doctors per every 10,000 people.

According to the Haad, there are 348 doctors in the region. This translates to 15.5 doctors per 10,000 population, lower than the Abu Dhabi average of 20.4 and much lower than the UK (27.4) and US (26.7).

Recruitment and retaining healthcare professionals were cited as reasons for this, primarily due to salary issues and inadequate infrastructure. In addition, residents have poor access to the more specialised healthcare available in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.

The region is in dire need of care in medical cardiology, gynaecological surgery, nephrology, orthopaedics, psychiatry, rehabilitation and vascular surgery; and additional services in emergency medicine, general and internal medicine, general surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, ENT, dentistry, ophthalmology, neonatology and oncology.

“Only 40 per cent of the Haad-defined regional services are currently available to Al Gharbia residents,” Haad said.

During a sit-down meeting with the Al Gharbia residents on Wednesday through the “majlis” initiative, senior Haad officials discussed the current problems of the region and the future development plans.

“Majlis initiative aims to open communication with the public to get first-hand feedback, comments, complaints and suggestions on quality of healthcare services in the (region)... Haad launched the initiative from the Western Region due to the importance of the area and the need for close follow-up and improvement,” stated Haad Director-General Dr Maha Barakat.

At the meeting, officials showed the preliminary plans for the two new 50-bed private hospitals in Madinat Zayed and Ghayathi and Seha’s plans to replace and expand the existing hospitals in Ghayathi and Al Sila’a.

The number of beds in the Adnoc hospital in Al Ruwais will be increased by 74 as a short-term solution.

The Haad said it will put to tender “urgently” the construction of clinics in underserved areas. Plans are also underway for a private clinic in Liwa and a police clinic in Mirfa.

To improve delivery of healthcare in the region, the Haad said it will consider rotating clinicians from surrounding areas and will give priority to homecare and telemedicine.

For the longer term, a large regional hospital is being considered for Al Ruwais, which will act as the primary hub of medical services. This will be supported by new clinics and existing hospital facilities in Sila’a, Mirfa, Madinat Zayed and Ghayathi while Sir Bani Yas and Delma will be serviced by new clinics.

On addressing the issue of recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals, the Haad said it will engage the municipality to improve housing and schools for clinical staff and their families.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com