Dubai Parents of children being treated for cancer at the government-owned Dubai Hospital have expressed serious concerns over the lack of specialist oncologists in recent weeks, saying they were forced to go to other hospitals for ongoing therapies.
They said things were going smoothly until a couple of days before Eid when they were informed that the consultant paediatric oncologist and another oncologist in the paediatric oncology section were on leave, one of them on medical grounds. They said they were subsequently referred to other hospitals, even as a visiting German doctor was pressed into service.
emergency leave
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) told XPRESS that a senior paediatric oncologist from Germany was immediately roped in when they were told that the head of paediatric oncology at Dubai Hospital needed emergency medical leave. But since this took a few days (during Eid) and patients could not be told to wait, they were advised to go to Tawam Hospital in Al Ain or the American Hospital in Dubai.
One parent of a leukaemia patient said: “My son had just finished the first cycle of chemotherapy at Dubai Hospital when we were told we would have to go to the American Hospital or Tawam Hospital for subsequent sessions.” She said she took her son to the American Hospital but feared the repercussions of a change in treatment.
“At Dubai Hospital, we were following the German protocol of treatment but the American Hospital follows the American protocol. I hope this change in medication will not affect my son.”
Another mother said: “We cannot take our daughter to another hospital because of financial problems. We want to continue treatment at Dubai Hospital itself.”
For many Dubai-based parents, the prospect of taking their little ones all the way to Tawam Hospital in Al Ain in an emergency is frightening. The mother of a teenage patient said she was lucky her son was receiving treatment from the visiting German doctor at Dubai Hospital. “But I do not know what will happen when he goes back.”
She said: “Please don’t get us wrong. We are not complaining against the hospital. We just want their excellent services to continue as we fear for the health and future of our children.”
As a major centre for the treatment of cancer among children, Dubai Hospital receives more than 50 per cent of all paediatric cancer cases in the UAE. The Paediatric Haematology and Oncology unit is credited with curing 450 patients through various modes of treatment like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. It has diagnosed over 750 cases of cancer among children since 1990. Forty per cent of these cases comprised leukaemia, 80 per cent of which were cured.
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DHA allays parents’ fears
A spokesperson for Dubai Health Authority (DHA) told XPRESS: “For Dubai Hospital, the needs of its patients are of utmost importance. Once we were informed that the head of paediatric oncology needs to take emergency medical leave, we immediately asked a reputed and specialised visiting doctor from Germany to fly to Dubai and cater to our patients during this interim period.”
“Dr Clemens Stockklausner, a senior paediatric oncologist from Heidelberg University in Germany arrived on August 28 and has been attending to patients since then. However, this took a few days (during the Eid holidays) and we did not want patients to wait for consultation. Hence, we advised them to go to either Tawam Hospital or American Hospital.”
Allaying fears over the difference in treatment protocols, the spokesperson said: “We would like to highlight that American or German protocol does not make a difference as long as the patient visits a qualified paediatric oncologist as this disease is well-known and so are the treatment and follow-up methods. Presently, we have sufficient doctors. However, since we have seen an increase in demand and in future we foresee a further increase, more doctors in this field will soon join our hospital.”
