Experiences in Doha Hospitals

My son would have died if it hadn’t been for the quick diagnosis of the staff at the Children’s emergency hospital, so, as you can imagine, I’m quite keen on the Qatari Health Service.

My first experience of them was more mundane, when I went to the emergency section at Hamad Hospital with an extremely painful ear infection. Although I did not yet have an ID card or a health card, I was seeing a doctor in minutes.

All emergency treatment in Qatar is free, and they state specifically that no-one shall be denied treatment on the basis of ethnicity or religion. However, I should have gone to a clinic, not the emergency section, as I have since heard doctors complaining about the back log of cases due to non-emergency patients.

My experiences with Qatar hospitals continued when my wife became pregnant. I was initially determined to take her to a private hospital. I investigated both the Doha Clinic, and the American hospital, which was recommended to us by another family.

I wanted to go private because fathers are not allowed to be present when there children are born. However, I was also lucky enough to meet a Bosnian doctor who was an obstetrician at Hamad hospital, and he strongly advised using the government hospital.

Government hospitals, he argued, had the highest standards in Qatar, and were inspected by an American body. None of the private hospitals had equipment that matched that of the private hospitals. If his wife was here, he concluded, he would send her to Hamad Hospital. We followed his advice, and he later delivered my baby personally.

I don’t how good the experience would have been if I hadn’t met that doctor. My wife did complain that initially things weren’t explained as well as they were in the U.K. It’s also hard to wait around while your wife delivers. Luckily, we had flown her mother over, so she wasn’t alone. As it was, everything went smoothly.

However, it was with my son that the Qatari system really excelled itself. We decided to take him into the Childrens’ emergency hospital because he had a high temperature. He had no other symptoms at the time. Within ten minutes of arriving our poor son was having a blood, urine and lumber test. They also put him on a drip immediately. By this time he was having convulsions and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head.

Because the meningitis was diagnosed quickly, my son is now fine. My wife and son had to spend 10 days in hospital, but at least the food is not as dire as in the UK – and we didn’t have to pay for our television and telephone!

The government hospitals are not the best in every area – a friend who works at Doha clinic mentioned neurology as being one in which the private hospitals were better. There is also sometimes a language barrier with hospital staff. Overall, though, we can heartily recommend the Qatari Government Hospitals.

Details:

- Everyone is entitled to free emergency hospital care, and medicine in hospital pharmacies is heavily subsidised.

- Residents in Qatar are entitled to free medical treatment, but need a health card. This costs a very reasonable 100 Riyals for one year. You will need photos and ID to obtain them. You will be able to get your card at your local clinic. It may take a while for your card to be completed, but in the meantime you can get health care with your health number. Alternatively, pay 30 Riyals per visit.

Numbers:

Emergency: 999
Hamad General Hospital: 439 4444
Women’s Hospital: 439 6666
Children’s hospitals
Abu Bakkar: 469 9314
Al Rayyan: 480 3582
Al Sadd: 469 2948

Also see: Qatar Health

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