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Unit
set up to care for the elderly
By Mona Al Khanjare,
Gulf News
August 07,
2003
Rashid
Hospital has set up a new section to manage the increasing number of
elderly patients who have been left with nowhere to go after treatment.
The
hospital reports that there are now at least 15 old people who have
apparently been abandoned by their families or are unable to get
themselves back to their home countries.
However,
the new section will allow for a more coordinated response and has been
created under an agreement between the hospital and the Department of
Health and Medical Services (Dohms). Public relations staff at the
hospital were previously given the job of tracking down families and
making sure patients could return home.
While
some of the old people involved are UAE nationals, a growing number of
elderly expatriates have no-one to look after them.
Hospital
officials say some families may simply be unaware that their elderly
relatives require care at home, while others may be callously attempting
to avoid the cost.
Ahmed
Issa, a spokesman for Rashid Hospital, told Gulf News that the idea of a
dedicated department to deal with the issue had been on the cards for many
months.
"Unfortunately
this is not a new problem, hospital staff have been attempting to deal
with it for a long time. We were following up cases of many elderly people
who were admitted at the hospital, but whose condition does not require
any medical attention," he said.
"Some
of these people have been in the hospital for a long time, and we often
don't know where their families are or even who they are. The elderly
patients need family attention and somebody to look after them, it would
often be better for their own well-being if they were taken out of
hospital, as it would be a psychological benefit for them to be in more
comfortable and familiar surroundings.
"However,
they cannot simply be discharged, especially because a few are in a coma,
or surviving with the help of breathing devices," said Issa.
He
added that keeping elderly people at the hospital was not only costly, but
uses up hospital beds.
"Every
month, we spend at least Dh 1,000 on each person, including the cost of
medical staff, the bed and food. This year, we have been able to discharge
37 displaced elderly people. Most of them have been reunited with their
families, others have been repatriated."
Other
steps have been taken to curb the problem, such as demanding full details
of family members and their addresses before elderly patients are
admitted.
A
coordinated response:
*
Rashid Hospital has reached a pact with Dohms to create the new dedicated
section, which will allow for a more coordinated response to address the
issue.
*
The plan to have a special section to deal with abandoned old people in
hospitals has been on the cards for several months.
*
The authorities have hitherto been following up the cases of many elderly
people who were admitted but whose condition does not require any medical
attention.
*
These abandoned people cannot be simply discharged, especially because a
few are in a coma, or surviving with the help of breathing devices.
*
Every month, the hospital spends at least Dh1,000 on each person,
including the cost of medical staff, bed and food.
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