The director of al- Gumhory Educational Hospital to Yemen times Huge demands and limited resources [Archives:2005/845/Health]

By Amal Mohammed
Yemen Times Staff
Efficient quality services are a direct result of good management in any institution. S ince the health sector is a very important service sector and because it continously suffers from many difficulties and problems in our country, effective management becomes a crucial issue. Al-Gumhory Educational Hospital is considered as one of the most prominent and largest health institutions in Yemen, as it receives more than a thousand patients daily. T he hospital has recently had new management represented by Dr. Nabil H. Dhaba'an. Yemen Times met Dr. Dhaba'an, director of the Al-Gumhory Hospital, and talked about various issues.

As a new director of Al-Gumhory Hospital are you facing administrative defects that may have occurred previously, and how do you deal with such issues?

I am not a new member in the hospital's management. I was the deputy director of Dr. Abdullh Al-Hamidi, the previous director of the hospital. I was also deputy of technical affairs, so I am completely familiar with the hospital's issues, working as a team with Dr. Al-Hamdi and the rest of the staff. I feel that my duties now are an extension and building on to the previous management's plans.

Is there a new strategy that you plan to apply?

Any management should have a strategy and a future plan. Our plan is taking into consideration the hospital's capital and assets, whether the budget or the local support. I have divided my plan to work on four aspects of the medical services of the hospital and these include: patients, staff, structure and equipments, as well as external and public relations.

How do your relations with other sectors and donors help you improve your services?

We have good relations with different sectors, authorities, local councils, donors, governmental and non-governmental organizations. For example we have connections with Taeba Charity, which built Taeba Center for Burns Treatment at al-Gumhory Hospital. It's considered a typical center that works based on consultation with similar centers in Saudi Arabia. Construction of this center costs more than 35.000000 YR, and the medical equipments and furniture about 400.0000$, consequently we are grateful to the charity.

We have connections with Al -Rahma Institution in Kuwait, which adopted the liver center of the Gumhory Hospital, since hepatitis diseases are common in Yemen.

There is continuous communication with Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, and we appreciate Mr. Ahmed Sofan's support who dedicated the Korean gift of million US dollars for AL-Gumhory hospital. Besides that, we have availed medical Korean equipments such as beds, surgery tables, instruments for intensive care, X-ray equipments tc. This contribution will improve the health services in the hospital. We will keep in touch with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to finish the part regarding the x-ray project.

We also developed an emergency center E.C in the hospital which offers 24 hours services. It contains 60 beds with intensive care. We are also glad to have received support from the local authority represented by Mr. Ahmed Al-Khwlani, the assistant general secretary.

We have achieved a great progress by establishing the cancer center, which is working in full swing and receives daily from 65 to 70 patients. This center was supplied with the newest medical equipments in the Middle East. We are proud that the staff working in this center is completely Yemeni and this attracts the attention of the foreign visitors. This center is a result of the auspices and care of the President Ali Abdullh Salah, who directed efforts to help the patients who needed to travel aboard and spend a lot of money to recover from cancer. We also thank the Prime Minster Dr. Abdullkader Bajamal who supported this issue.

There is also a speculum surgery service, and defined clinics that need improvement and help of medical consultants to enhance the performance of those clinics. I have to mention that these efforts are a continuation of the efforts of the former management, so I have to thank Dr. Al-Hamidi again who has laid the first foundation for these improvements. Now the hospital owns the trust of the people and keeps on receiving thousands of patients regularly in spite of the small budget of the hospital.

How do you go about your daily routine in managing the hospital and trouble shooting?

I must admit that there are some defects in the system. Problems relating to efficiency and required capacity often occur. But these issues may take place in any service sector especially if your aim is to offer a perfect service where none of your inputs are in any way close to perfection. Lately we have established a connection with Al -Thawra hospital, our cooperation is for the sake of the patients. Sometimes we send some of our patinets for treatment.

However, we try to predict the risks and potential problems and take precautions in order to prevent them from happening. Some issues can be solved executively and we try to avoid repeating the mistakes in the future, we have a simple team whose job is to deal with issues that occur on daily basis. But we always get stuck at the financial end because of the lack of material or certain financial resources. Our budget, which is just 7000000 YR annually, does not cover many of the essential expenses. I hope the finance ministry and local authorities would realize that the medical services are very expensive and the 1,000,000 YR that is given yearly is not enough for our huge hospital that receives thousands of patients daily like Al-Gumhory. This hospital is the oldest hospital in the region; it has been built since the thirties. Al- Gumhory is the only hospital that is located in the center of the capital city, so our services are offered to the citizens of in the capital and those who come from the other governorates, whether they are civilians or military citizens.

We are optimistic because we feel that attention is being paid to us and that the President Ali Abdullh Salah is interested in promoting and enhancing the health sector in Yemen.

Another problem is the lack of qualified human resources, which we deal with through cooperation with the ministry of health who provides us with qualified staff.

Considering this issue, how do you enhance the quality of the hospital staff?

During his last visit to the hospital, the prime minister discussed this issue and said that there will be efforts to improve the qualification of the medical cadre through implementing of a new health state strategy.

However I have to say that the doctors are the most productive group in the society. They have to study in the university for a long time to graduate and avail this position in the society, they must be ready for any call in their shifts and this exerts physical, and intellectual pressure on them. What we could hope for is that the society and the authorities appreciates their role.

Where do the medical cadre and the staff receive their on-job training?

The training takes place in all the sections of the hospital. That is, the doctors are trained under close monitoring of their supervisors. There are also students of Arab colleagueship whose supervisors are heads of sections. In addition, the scientific academy provides doctors, students, and researchers with new data, studies and Internet facilities. There are training courses for nurses and students who come from other health institutions.

How do you maintain patients' records and do you keep statistics of the various cases?

Yes there is a section that keeps statistics and general data. However there are no registers that keep information about the patients unless the patients have health insurance. These patients mostly work in companies and some sectors that contracted the hospital for health services of their employees.

In my opinion we have to learn from the experience of the other countries such as Egypt, the Gulf countries, Europe and America. Why doesn't the ministry of health and the other concerned authorities form a committee to study and reflect other countries' successful experiences to our system? A law must be decreed to ensure health insurance of the employees in the private sector. I know it's difficult to apply the health insurance 100% for all the citizens, but at least lets make a strategy or a plan to offer health insurance not including the medicine but including surgeries, hospital stay…etc.

How do you assess private hospitals?

Private hospitals are considered a good economic investment. However, 80% of these hospitals do not reach to the minimum standards to be called “hospital””. They lack the techniques and equipments