Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah inaugurated the first phase of the health call centers in Riyadh yesterday.
The call center is a 24-hour phone-in service through a toll free number 937, offered by the Ministry of Health (MoH) for people to contact the Health Ministry through their landline, mobile or from emergency phones.
Following the commissioning of the service yesterday, Al-Rabeeah explained that this is a pilot project, where 18 trained officials will assist the callers to solve their instant health problems by providing necessary information. He said health officials will work on three shifts on the lines of similar centers in the United States and Canada.
The minister said that the ministry would be happy to receive suggestions about the progress of the call center from health officials, medical specialists and journalists to enhance its services for the benefit of the people.
He said the program is being implemented in line with the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman, the deputy premier and minister of defence, who are keen on placing the patients first in the healthcare services offered by the Kingdom.
The center is equipped with state-of-the-art communications system, and a hotline to the Ministry of Interior as well as the leading edge technology in audio-visual communication. There is also a section to receive calls, a follow-up division, and a division for medical services and telegrams, a section for archives and statistics, operating rooms and crises management.
It is open round the clock and it can receive complaints all the time, which will be redirected to the various departments at the ministry for further action. The center can make statistical surveys and analyze them to assess any current situation of the medical services in the various areas and governorates, for the purpose of upgrading the services and including them in the ministry's development plans.
Tariq Al-Arnoos, head of the Emergency Department of the ministry, said the center will operate 365 days in the year and it will not be closed during Eid or Haj holidays during the year. He added that the center is manned by by a team of elite trained and qualified doctors and paramedics who are specialized in emergency services.
MOH Spokesman, Dr. Khalid Mirghalani, indicated that the call center is deemed to be an attentive ear to patients willing to record their urgent demands. It works to meet patients’ urgent needs in accordance with standards and patients’ medical needs to carry out their demands and requirements without loss of time.
He added that the center would analyze all incoming urgent patients’ reports; and would work hard to improve work performance within the MoH strategy, striving to meet the slogan: “Patient First”.
The spokesman mentioned that the center’s services, which include receiving and recording patients’ urgent reports and work quickly to accomplish them, follow up and provide urgent consultations at anytime, anywhere nationwide with doctors working 24/7. He added that the center would offer instructions to patients, directs them to the competent authorities for providing services that patients need by giving them important contact numbers. Also, the center would clarify the role of MOH and its services offered to patients directly or those offered in cooperation with a strategic partnership with other health sectors and public centers such as Civil Defence and the Saudi Red Crescent Authority.