Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) will start daytime surgery services from October this year, Gulf Times has learnt.

“Our plan is to open the day time paediatric surgery in October this year,” Peter Morris CEO of Sidra disclosed during an interview with this newspaper recently.
“The day case surgery clinic will allow paediatric patients to be admitted to the Sidra Outpatient Clinic for minor surgeries or procedures. The procedures will be completed within a short time and the patients will be discharged on the same day. Examples of some of the procedures include biopsies, gall bladder removals, circumcisions, etc.”
“We also have a pre-assessment clinic that was recently launched. This is where the patient’s medical history and the advice of the surgeon and the anaesthesiologist will help determine day surgery cases,” he added.
Dr. Patrick Sheehan, chief of the paediatric ENT Outpatient clinic, Sidra also stated that his department will start the day time surgery procedures by October. Dr Sheehan said: “Plans are currently underway to conduct day procedures of the ear, nose, and throat and larynx at the Outpatient Clinic. Expected launch time-frame for the day surgery will be October this year.”
Dr. Sheehan also said that his team would manage children who must undergo common ENT procedures as well as those who have medical conditions that may increase anaesthetic risk. “Sidra will have dedicated paediatric anaesthetists for the children. Currently all paediatric surgeries are conducted at Hamad General Hospital,” he noted.
According to the CEO of the hospital, Sidra Outpatient Clinic will be fully operational by January next year.
Morris said: “We began the journey of opening services when we launched the new clinics and services at our outpatient clinic on May1. Thereafter we added several new clinics and services in June.We are launching more clinics and expanding services every month. We expect our outpatient clinic to be fully operational by the end of January 2017.”
The CEO emphasised that the focus from 2017 will be on the opening of the main hospital. He said: “With the opening of the Outpatient Clinic, the development of day surgery, followed by more clinics and services, we will then prepare for the opening of in-patient services for women and children in the main hospital building. Of course, we have already opened services such as radiology and pathology to support the Outpatient Clinic in advance of opening the main hospital building.”