Sharjah residents worried about losing loved ones on commutes to hospitals

SHARJAH // Away from the bustling city, with its abundance of healthcare options, the central region of Sharjah is a very different place.

Fewer health centres means fewer services on offer and longer waiting times at accident and emergency rooms.

Residents of villages surrounding Al Dhaid would like to see more provision.

Yousef Khan, who lives in Al Batayeh, 30 kilometres away from Al Dhaid, said his nearest health centre offered general medical help but he travels to Al Dhaid Hospital for specialist care or emergencies.

“A few months back, I fell from a lorry while unloading stone blocks. I was taken to Al Dhaid Hospital to receive treatment because the health centre here doesn’t have an emergency room or operate in the afternoon,” said the 39-year-old.

“I broke two ribs and was in agony for almost four hours before I received treatment.”

Jamil Mohamed, who lives in Al Manama, near Al Dhaid, also said that his local health centre did not cater for emergency situations.

“There are no emergency rooms in the health centre in Al Manama. Whenever we have an emergency, I have to drive more than 20km to reach the nearest hospital,” said the Pakistani.

His town is an hour from Ajman and 30 minutes from Al Dhaid. “Two weeks ago, my 60-year-old mother, who has a heart condition, needed medical help, so I rushed her to Al Dhaid Hospital, only to sit there for three hours before we got assistance,” said the 36-year-old Dubai airport employee.

“To top it all, the front desk who received us didn’t know English, so we had to bring in someone who could translate my mother’s problem to him in Arabic.

“We don’t want to lose our loved ones while commuting to the nearest hospital.”

Jordanian Firas Amera, 35, broke a leg while at work in the central region. He was driven for 40 minutes before he reached Al Dhaid Hospital, then had to wait for treatment.

“I waited for three hours in the emergency room until medical staff put a cast on my leg. There was a shortage of staff in the department and too many patients,” he said.

Dr Ayesha Sohail, director of primary health care at the Ministry of Health & Prevention, said in April that the health centre in Al Madam accepted emergency cases but only after 10pm.

Even residents of Al Dhaid itself were unhappy with the services offered in their city hospital. Salma Ahmad, a mother of six, said the hospital needed more specialists after hours.

“On several occasions, my daughter got sick at night and we had to rush her to the hospital, but we didn’t find specialists after hours to help our children,” she said.

“Now, I just take my children to private clinics, where they get prompt medical assistance from specialists with almost no waiting time.”

Ahmed Al Khadeim, director of Al Dhaid Hospital, said the emergency department was well staffed but received an average of 100 patients a day.

“We treat everyone who comes in, but, out of the 100 cases we receive daily, only 10 patients, on average, are indeed emergency cases,” he said.

“We treat patients according to the severity of the case, using the triage scale, and we treat them all.”

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