New centre at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City in Abu Dhabi offers oncology and haematology care

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) will now provide comprehensive haematology and oncology services at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical Centre (SSMC), following a reorganisation of medical services across its network.

The Haematology and Oncology Centre at SSMC combines the expertise of SSMC — which is run in collaboration with Mayo Clinic — with that at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC). SKMC earlier provided care in these specialities.

“By adopting a comprehensive, integrated and collaborative approach, haematology and oncology patients will now receive multidisciplinary care with a more pronounced focus on talent acquisition and treatment methods through our partners at Mayo Clinic. This will elevate patient experience and ensure a seamless continuum of care,” said Dr Tarek Fathey, Seha group chief executive officer.

“Seha’s ultimate vision is to provide the highest quality of care and services to the people of the UAE and the wider region. As we support the UAE leadership’s ambition of transforming the health-care industry to deliver best-in-class treatment services, we have a clear strategy that includes streamlining services across facilities, improving efficiencies and creating renowned centres for the provision of specialist and holistic care. This is an integral part of our journey towards the future in establishing a modern, progressive network fit for the next 50 years and beyond,” Dr Fathey said.

SSMC’s haematology and oncology department will now expand to include a 30-bed inpatient unit, an eight-bed apheresis unit, and a new division of transfusion services. The only haematology-centric fellowship programme in the UAE, which was formally offered at SKMC, is also being transferred to SSMC. The department will also be establishing a comprehensive stem cell transplant centre at SSMC.

Following the integration of services, SSMC will provide extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) cancer treatment and care for acute haematology and leukaemia. The hospital’s Haematology and Oncology Department, led by Dr Shahrukh Hashmi, department chair of haematology and oncology and former Director of BMT LTFU/Survivorship Clinic at Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, will offer an interdisciplinary range of services and treatments.

“Cancers are the third leading cause of death in the UAE after cardiovascular diseases and injuries. In our efforts to improve this statistic and ensure patients are receiving the best-in-class care they require that meets, if not exceeds, international standards, we are strengthening Seha’s holistic haematology and oncology offerings by combining our assets and heavily injecting international mastery,” Dr Hashmi said.