If you ever
came to any tertiary care hospital
during office hours you most likely have gone through the regular predicament,
wasting a lot of time searching for a parking lot to become available. It can
be a very frustrating exercise, going around and around in circles trying to
get a place to park, and for some they go through this agony almost everyday.
MoH do not seem to realize the magnitude of this problem for the patients, visitors
and even for the staff at tertiary care hospitals.
Undeniably, parking
problem has steadily worsened over the years due to many reasons. There is an
noticeable growth of motorists during the last few years in Oman. Adding the
fifth digits on the plate number is just a clear sign to that. There is an
increase in auto sales locally, too, which was estimated to 16% in 2011.
According to ROP statistics of 2011, the total number of vehicles on roads is (881360), 10% increase
compared to 2010 statistics (804233). But, should that been taken in
considerations in the 2020 vision when planning the long-term projects, such as
hospitals!?
Here’s a quote from
Royal Hospital website: “The Royal Hospital, established in December 1987, is a
large, tertiary, acute-care hospital, which provides state-of-the-art services
in the specialties and sub-specialties of medicine, surgery, pediatrics,
obstetric & gynecology, oncology and laboratory medicine. It is an
important milestone in the development of health services in the Sultanate of
Oman during the renaissance programme of the Government of His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos bin Said in this prosperous period of Oman’s contemporary history.” Such
an “important milestone project in the development of health services” designed
without forecasting it’s expansion as a response to the population boom and
huge increase in the number of vehicles in the upcoming future is a very big
mistake.
Just a week ago I went
to visit a friend of mine at the Royal hospital, yet I was almost to retract
due to the plenty advices and complains I got regarding the parking problems
there. I got there and, like everyone, spent over 35 minutes just searching for
a parking lot. The scene was indescribably unorganized. I wasn’t lucky enough
to have a big car like those who were able to haul their cars onto the small unpaved kerb on the sides of
the road. Hurried people park haphazardly, leaving their car blocking
crosswalks and jutting out from curbs. further congestion caused by the plenty
drivers who stop their cars at the main entrance due to severe situations.
Obviously everyone have their own reasons and nobody you can blame at that
moment.
You might be already
stressed if you’re going to the hospital for appointment or treatment. You
don't need the extra worry of finding a parking place. The problem is
aggravated when you come pack and find a parking fine from ROP glued to your
car’s front glass. I don’t think that it’s fair at all, and the police must be
more understandable especially in such congested places. I remember a woman
being fined for failing to find an adequate parking place while attending an
appointment for her son with severe heart problems. ‘I know it’s wrong,’ she
said. ‘But people have to drive around for half an hour to find a car parking
space at the hospital when they have important medical appointments to keep.’
Many civil engineers
have thrown the blame on MoH for ill-planning the main tertiary care hospitals
and for failure to expand parking lots for all visitors, patients and staff.
MoH has its own problems and cleavages in their planning when building or
designing their hospitals as a whole, not only parking spots! Recalling back
what happened to AL Nahdha hospital after the torrential rains flooded the
hospital, damaging the much of the facility, and cars in the parking area were
stacked over each other after they were washed away in the flood last November.
Moreover, just few months ago doctors went on strike and Royal Hospital staff
held a half-day protest at the hospital’s main entrance calling for more
reforms, transparency and an end to corruption in the Ministry of Health (MoH).
There is a plan for a
huge expansion at the Royal hospital today, and I’ve seen they’ve already started
the building in the opposite side of the hospital’s main building, but until
now there is no plans for parking floors system. “The new expansion will
enhance the ICU, wards (male and female) and pediatric tumor wards, as well as
the offices of doctors, co-coordinators and other supportive services” and
there is a plan to add nursery and restaurants area. All that is going to be
catastrophic if they’re haven’t take parking floors in mind and linking the
main building and the new ones with covered air-conditioned corridors,
pedestrian tunnels or covered bridges and linking the necessary parking floors
of the two building that are not established yet and I’m not sure if they ever
will!
Sami AL Muharbi, Royal
Hospital patient, said: “MoH is all mouth and trousers. They’ve said a plan is
set to expand the parking area three years ago. What have been done?! Nothing
at all yet! If the MoH is very aware of the problem but cannot provide any
quick action then definitely we’re at a loose end.
Ismail Al Barghothi,
frequent visitor, said: “It’s really becoming a pain in the neck for me,
wasting one hour searching everyday twice for a parking slot nearby. I really
want the MoH minister to come here for treatment and park his car somewhere
here not in the VIP parking. They’ll never understand our feelings until they
walk on our shoes.”
Ibrahim Al Amri,
patient, indicates that “ Even when they provide parking places, they’re mostly
not covered, depriving the patients and visitors of the right to a cool car
seat after visiting the hospital”. This is another issue where we live as the
temperature is always high. “Hospitals in Oman do not consider special cases
like the elderly or the handicapped who find it difficult to walk such a great
distance to the office in the scorching heat” he added.
Solutions are
essential to be carried quickly in order to avoid further problems. It is
important to utilize the large area near the hospital in designing new building
with parking floors system so that it is sufficient to cope with the hospital’s
capacity and for any future expansions. The new projects and expansion carried
at the Royal hospital must put in plan the parking floors suggestion and
linking the main building with the new ones and the MoH should shoulder the
responsibility regarding the well-designing of the new projects and to take
these plans into consideration. All new public hospitals should be forced to
provide ample “covered” parking places for their visitors. Not to forget also the medial city project to
be established, but when is it going to see the light?! I hope It’ll be very
soon because it will definitely lessen the pressure and congestion in the other
tertiary care hospitals in Muscat.
