Abu Dhabi: Even though the situation across emergency rooms (ERs) was smooth during Eid, certain specialties such as doctors that specialise in treating patients with diabetes, were under severe pressure.
When Gulf News spoke to various doctors across the capital city, they all agreed that approximately 20 per cent of patients walking into ERs yesterday were diabetics.
"While the rest of the 80 per cent of patients in our ER complained of abdominal and chest problems, alongside minor injuries among children, the rest of our patients have diabetes or hypertension and come to us to top-up or refill their prescription and medication since the clinics that deal with routine cases such as diabetes, are closed during the Eid," explained Dr Nabil Debouni, Medical Director at Lifeline Hospital.
Abdominal issues
Other common cases during long public holiday, said Debouni, include food poisoning due to bad eating habits, or abdominal related issues that require instant surgical assistance, such as the appendicitis.
"Our operation theatre is open to deal with all sorts of surgical emergencies, including on a Friday, and our staff nurses work in shifts.
"When our primary health care clinics are closed, we also have more general practitioners in our ERs," said Debouni.
Rakesh Malhotra, Endocrinologist at NMC Specialty Hospital, is surprised at how busy the day has turned out for him, yet managed to add in a few words to Gulf News between seeing his patients.
"I luckily took Monday off, so I'm mentally prepared to work all through to Thursday. In our profession, we get used to servicing different patients at any strange hour. What's surprising is the increasing number of diabetes patients I have seen during the first day of Eid," he said.
"Most of them have come in for medical top-ups and follow-ups, and were in a rush to be diagnosed due to either leaving the country or going away on short fast trips."
"Usually I see around 15 to 20 patients a day in my clinic. However, until now [midday] I have already seen ten patients, so I'm sure things will get equally crowded later on the day," Malhotra said.
Big rush
"Other patients with thyroid conditions prefer to come see me on the first day of Eid because they know it's slightly calmer than any other day so that results in a big rush of patients," he said.
Doctors urge parents to keep an eye on what their children eat, especially when eating out, and to keep an eye on the cleanliness of various food-items.
