A senior health care executive has said the health care status reports on hospitals and clinics should be published to reassure people of health care facilities in the region.
Speaking at the opening of the GCC's first occupational health facility in Deira, Mark Adams, CEO of Gulf Healthcare International, said there was also a need to give people assurances on the quality of health care in the region so that people would not jump on a plane if they had a serious condition.
"Doctors working here are as good as anywhere else," he said.
That reassurance will come with openness, by publishing results and by hospitals and clinics telling about any untoward incidents, how many mistakes they expect to make per so many thousand, he said.
"That's starting to happen. Patients are getting that right to access that information. Build the trust. Give them the information that will build the trust."
He said in a region notorious for traffic accidents, there was a pressing need for proper facilities for spinal and brain injuries.
He said in the next five years such facilities would emerge in the region, which he said was doing well in every other measure.
He also spoke of diabetes across the region and said it was good practice to screen a company's staff annually. "You are able to do something about it, you can offer counselling.
"Diabetes is life-long once you get it and if not managed properly could lead to whole range of life-threatening conditions," said Adams.
He said if caught early in the pre-diabetic stage, changes can be made in the diet and in lifestyle. He said Gulf Healthcare would also work on the preventative side. "Given that over two-thirds of the population spends most of the time in the work-place it is a logical place to start education and preventative initiatives," said Adams.
The executive said with the economic downturn there was a lot of work-based stress. "More employers are looking to support their staff," he said. "If people are happier, they are more productive, there are less absentees and less staff turnover."
Adams said doctors in the UK didn't get a break from dealing with problems day in and day out. "You've got to have good work practices and people should have a good work-life balance, he said.
Source: http://www.gulfnews.com