Efforts on to cut waiting time for patients at SMC

A number of measures are being taken to ensure the reduction in waiting time for patients at the accident and emergency section of the Kingdom’s largest hospital.   According to sources, the accident and emergency section at the Salmaniya Medical Complex is under immense pressure due to a large number of cases it receives every day.

The hospital is burdened with a huge portion of those who visit the accident and emergency area despite not needing urgent assistance, sources said. In response to a parliamentary question, the Minister of Health, Faeqa Al Saleh said that the measures to be taken include redirecting some non-emergency cases to the health centers, training the public on CPR, training the public with basic skills to attend certain cases at home and updating the systems for the department. 

The ministry is updating its system in line with the system used in the UK called the Manchester Triage System, the minister said. The new system will adopt a more efficient mechanism in categorizing patients received at the section based on the severity of the injuries/illnesses of the patients, it is learned.  

“Currently, 68 percent of the cases at the accident and emergency section are not actually urgent, only the remaining 32pc are actual emergency cases. “This has caused the waiting for at the hospital to be longer than needed,” the minister said.  She added that the department receives 800 to 900 patients daily and that there is an average waiting time of 75 minutes at the section.