Over the past year (1438H.), the Medical Social Work Department of King Fahad General Hospital-Jeddah provided medical social services to 5,212 cases, including 900 initial assessment and 4,643 social treatment. The hospital social work helps patients in the first place address their problems, through its basic roles to identify the problem and its causes. Then, the social worker contributes to developing a plan of action for professional intervention to achieve the therapeutic, preventive and rehabilitative goals. Also, the social worker plays a vital role with patients at inpatient, outpatient and emergency departments, in terms of handling the different cases referred to him for many reasons, including non-compliant patients who refuse treatment, panic patients due to their chronic disease, and patients who are in need for rehabilitation before treatment, such as amputation and other cases.
It is noted that, within its developmental plans, the Medical Social Service Department will establish a Social Consultation Office, which will contribute to regular follow up of the patients’ therapeutic plans, Allah Willing.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Health (MOH) is currently implementing MOH's Performance Program, which aims to boost productivity, performance quality and efficiency of health services in hospitals. The program is in line with the strategic objectives of the National Transformation Program 2020 towards achieving the Saudi Vision 2030. The program covers 70 main hospitals and features over 40 indicators to measure the performance of seven key therapeutic aspects.