Awareness campaign impact: HMC sees decline in emergency visits

Emergency departments record 51,108 visits in February compared to 55,450 in January

NT Bureau

Doha: The number of people seeking emergency services at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has shown a noticeable decline as a result of a joint campaign launched by various health entities.

In February, a joint campaign was launched by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), HMC, Public Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Sidra Medicine and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) to create awareness about emergency and urgent healthcare services in Qatar and to discourage people from seeking emergency services for non-emergency cases.

The five-week campaign was called ‘Where For Your Care?’ and sought to guide people on where to go in case of an emergency or when they needed urgent medical care.

The report says the number of visits to HMC’s Emergency Departments, the total number of calls to the Ambulance Service, and calls for air ambulance services have decreased in February compared to the previous month this year.

The report says that the emergency departments at HMC recorded 51,108 visits in February, which is an eight percent decrease compared to 55,450 in January.

The HMC has recorded 280,391 outpatient visits, and 32,388 inpatient admissions in February, says the report.

It also said 2,142 babies were born across HMC hospitals in February.