RAS AL KHAMIAH // Federal National Council members visited Hamad Obaidullah Hospital for the Elderly on Wednesday to check on the quality of care there.
Staff detailed to the council’s health committee the type of facilities and treatment available to patients.
“Our visit today is focused on the services and treatment offered to the elderly inside and outside the hospital,” said Salem Al Ameri, from Abu Dhabi, head of the committee.
“It comes as a part of our visits to various hospitals and institutions in every emirate.”
Mr Al Ameri said the committee had visited a nursing home in Sharjah and hospitals in Al Dhaid, Ajman and Al Ain.
During the RAK visit, members raised the issue of patients being kept waiting for long periods before receiving medical care.
They emphasised the importance of keeping doctors up to date with techniques and treatment.
Later, members spoke with patients and their doctors.
“The majority of our patients are over 50 years of age,” said Dr Yousef Abdualah, chief operations officer of the hospital.
“They can’t move and the majority of them are fed through tubes.”
Patients visited by members included a Bangladeshi man who was seriously injured in a car accident three years ago and lost all mobility and speech.
Nurses and staff carry out physical therapy to make sure his muscles do not atrophy. He is also fed through a tube.
Members heard that the hospital contacted the patient’s family in his home country to collect him, but they refused and he has been in their care ever since.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
