HE the Minister of Health Dr. Muhammad bin Ali Alhayaza launched today Thursday the 3rd batch of the home medicine vehicles, which are dedicated for movement of the medical teams assigned to provide the home medical care to patients in their homes.
The 3rd batch of 115 vehicles, it is noteworthy, was preceded by the 1st and 2nd batches of 80 and 179 vehicles respectively, thus bringing the total of such vehicles to 374. They are staffed by medical crews, each of which is comprised of a doctor, 2 nursing technicians, a physiotherapist and nutritionist. The number of visits conducted by these teams has so far reached approximately one million.
HE the Minister expressed his thanks and appreciation for those in charge of the Home Medicine Program, praising their role in providing this service which is based on health care services provided at homes, in the context of the overall health care for the patient during his stay in hospital and after leaving it.
He commended the services offered by the Ministry with the aim of providing the best heath and therapeutic services to the patient, including the Home Medicine Program which is considered one of the leading quality service programs offered by the MOH.
Dr. Alhayaza lauded the efforts exerted by the former ministers of health to upgrade the health services level, and the contributions of Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah to establish this program, and today we are reaping its fruits.
He underscored that the Ministry is exerting every possible effort to make the health care available to all citizens and provide high quality health services which achieve their aspirations and meet their health needs, praying for Almighty Allah to guide him to success to serve the people of this generous country.
It is noteworthy that the MOH has introduced Home Medicine Program to provide health care for patients at their homes, via qualified medical teams. From the hospital, they head to the patient’s house as per a specified visits program, taking into consideration the patient's need, as well as providing dignified and affordable home health services for patients in need of the service and making it easier for the patient's family to follow –up his condition. The program also provides continuous and comprehensive health care for the patients who do not have access to the health facilities at their homes.
The team evaluates the health condition for each patient thoroughly before leaving the hospital to determine his health and social status and ensure the safety of the environment at home and the family’s ability to secure an appropriate climate to care for the patient inside his home. Home medicine services are provided to the following groups: post-surgery patients, patients who have just undergone day surgeries, cancer patients (advanced stage), patients with serious traffic injuries, head trauma, nervous and motor systems injuries, mental patients, chronic cases patients, patients bedridden with ulcers mattress, diabetics and diabetic foot, and social services.
On his part, Dr. Nasser Alkhozaim, Supervisor of the Home Medicine Program, said that the accumulative total number of the beneficiaries of the program since its inception in Rabie Alakhr 1430H, until end of Zul Hijjah 1435H, amounts to 45,083 patients.
He went on saying that the hospitals which apply the program amount to 192 hospitals, and number of the medical crews from hospitals to patients' homes reached 323, while the total number of the program's employees in all regions is 1509.
He said that the cases of aging diseases, either mental or physical, for example, accounted for 18% of the total cases receiving domestic medical care, the disease of the circulatory system 17%, mental diseases 13%, strokes and paralysis 10%, and cancers 1%. The rest of the pathological groups are in varied proportions
Alkhozaim added that the program is based on a set of activities and medical services (therapeutic, preventive, rehabilitative, awareness and social) which are provided to certain categories of patients among their families at home, as per specific criteria and mechanism of action, through a medical crew qualified for such purpose.