The Emergency Department at Qatar’s Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) opened a satellite paediatric emergency centre at Old Airport Primary Health Centre.

The new centre is expected to reduce the pressure on the Paediatric Emergency Unit at Al Sadd, the sole facility in Doha for treating paediatric cases, said the Peninsula newspaper.

The centre is expecting to receive 300 cases daily and considered as one of the largest satellite health centres in the country.

It has nine beds in addition to another two beds for urgent cases, according to Dr Ibrahim Al Jenahi, paediatric consultant at HMC.

Five doctors and eleven nurses will be available round-the-clock to treat children from various age groups, from new-born babies to those aged 14 years.

The expansion came as a part of a plan to establish satellite emergency units in various parts of the country including Al Khor, Al Shamal, Umm Salal, Shahaniya, Al Rayyan and Abu Samra.

Dr Al Jenahi said there is also a plan to open more satellite emergency units across the country to reduce the pressure on the HMC facilities.

Paediatric emergency units will be opened at the Muraikh and Al Gharafa areas very soon with four to eight beds capacity.