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FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT
Starcare Hospital is looking to set new benchmarks in
the Sultanate’s private healthcare sector, aiming at
reducing the dependence of Omanis and expats on
hospitals abroad for high quality treatment. Muhammed
Nafie reports
Low private sector penetration in tertiary health care
constitutes one of the biggest challenges facing the
healthcare sector in the Sultanate. There is no dearth
of polyclinics or medical centers in the country; but as
the population increases and ages, the public sector
hospitals are under pressure to deal with an increasing
number of more complex cases. Having to wait a long time
to access good quality care and some specialty
treatments in the Sultanate, an increasing number of
people are forced to seek them in India, Thailand and
Western countries. The solution to this pressing problem
lies in setting up multispecialty hospitals equipped
with internationally experienced and trusted doctors
working in world-class facilities, and capable of
offering all sorts of care under one umbrella.
UK-based Starcare Health Systems which opened Starcare
Hospital, a 50-bed premium facility located in Seeb, in
2011 has taken a giant stride towards this direction.
Looking to set new bench marks in the private Healthcare
sector, the hospital aims to reduce the dependence of
Omanis and expats on hospitals abroad for high quality
treatment. “If you are capable of providing quality
service with impressive infrastructure, there is a huge
potential in the private sector,” says K Jayan, general
manager, Starcare Hospital. “Considering this, we now
plan to set up a 200-bed hospital offering tertiary care
in a number of specialties such as cardiac surgery,
cancer surgery etc. The facility will be affordable to
most Omanis and expats because we will have different
schemes catering to people belonging to different
financial segments. The discussions are on and the
location of this RO20-25mn project will be finalised in
the next few months.”
Sophisticated and world-class
The current facility in Seeb reflects well the
innovative ideas and ambitious plans Starcare holds in
store for transforming the healthcare sector in the
country in the future. Having embraced international
accreditation standards from the design stage itself,
Starcare has invested as many as RO3.5mn for the
interior and medical equipment which includes the huge
investment for the modern and high-tech modular
operating theatre. Citing another record of delivery on
promises of the team, Jayan says, “As far as we are
aware, nowhere in the GCC was the project of a hospital
of this size conceived and completed in just 363 days.”
Being the first private hospital in Seeb, Starcare
boasts of a dedicated 24-hour emergency department, 35
medical specialties, ICUs, day care units, maternity
ward, 24-hour pharmacy, and 24-hour diagnostic services.
Other facilities and services at Starcare Hospital
include well designed and well equipped trauma and
emergency department, multi slice CT Scan, 4D
ultrasound, TMT,ECHO and PACS, spacious VIP suites,
labour and delivery suites with world best Hill ROM
Infinity four multifunction beds. The hospital also has
neonatal ICU with German and Dutch technology, three
advanced operating rooms with HEPA filters and Laminar
Flow systems, comprehensive central sterilisation unit
conforming to HTM 2020 (UK) guidelines and advanced
laboratory and blood bank. “Although we do have a few
private hospitals now in Oman, the typical hospital
level service which we call secondary or tertiary level
is still in infancy. Some of the private hospitals are
large polyclinics with very limited inpatient care
facilities. This causes confusion among the public who
might lose confidence in the private sector. Starcare is
looking to lead a change in this mindset by providing
quality secondary and tertiary surgical services,” says
Dr Askar Kukkadi, senior consultant paediatrician and
medical director.
Designed, and operating from day one, according to the
US based Joint Commission International (JCI)
accreditation standards, the hospital is currently
undergoing rigorous inspection from the accreditation
body. “Right now we don’t have any public or private
hospital in the Sultanate accredited by the JCI. The
accreditation is all about improving the quality of
patient care in the hospital. It hinges on more than
1000 standards ranging from how you design the operation
theatre to how do you prevent mistakes in blood tests.
Even though it is a huge challenge to train a lot of
people within a short span of time, it is satisfying to
see the improvement in quality as we prepare ourselves
for the accreditation survey. If successful, Starcare
will be one of a few hospitals in the world getting JCI
accreditation within the first year of opening,” says
Jayan.
A competent team
Starcare enjoys the services of several fulltime senior
in-house consultants including western experienced
surgeons, pediatricians, gastroenterologists and
cardiologists. In addition, the hospital avails the
services of a number of senior visiting consultants from
various government hospitals in the country and
international visiting consultants. The hospital now
offers 35 different specialties handled by a combination
of fulltime and visiting consultants. Joint replacement
surgery, major reconstructive plastic surgery, Surgery
on blood vessels, advanced ENT surgery and laparoscopic
surgery are some of the tertiary specialties offered.
“We will be shortly launching Bariatric surgery (for
obesity), Sports medicine and spine surgery services,”
says Dr Kukkadi.
Referring to the overwhelming response the Starcare
gets, Jayan says, “The response was beyond our
expectation. Within six months of opening, we have
started treating every day such a large number of
patients that most of the hospitals could get only after
two years. The location in Seeb which has a high
population density also helped. But we seem to be
getting patients from all over Muscat and even from
Sohar, Salalah, Sur and Nizwa. Except for cardiac and
cranial surgery the hospital has the facilities to
handle most of the medical conditions. Gynecology
department is already one of the most successful in the
country. We are handling a number of deliveries,
caesarean and laparoscopic gynecological surgeries. Our
ENT and gastroenterology departments are very strong
with senior consultants. We also did a number of knee
replacement surgeries.”
“Being accepted by the patients early is very satisfying
for us. It is even sweeter now that we are profitable
too. Financial viability is very important while trying
to offer high quality service at affordable prices” says
Dr Kukkadi.
Hospitality par excellence
The Starcare also seeks to create a warm
customer-friendly ambience to ensure that patients get
personalised customer service from the moment they reach
the hospital. “People coming here are happy because of
the hygienic, warm and fresh ambience. Our doctors are
encouraged not to consult more than 25 to 30 patients a
day. Patients will feel more confident if doctors can
give adequate time to listen to their concerns.
Unfortunately many hospitals force doctors to treat 60 –
80 patients or even more a day, which is really sad,”
avers Jayan.
Western or equivalent trained nurses with exceptional
bedside manners and high level competence provide
quality nursing care for the patients. “We will be
committed to provide the best quality medical care and
services to our patients through our focus on
uncompromising patient safety culture and emphasis on
human values”, says Marianna Kotze, chief nursing
officer. “ Ours is a holistic approach to nursing
combining high quality customer care and high safety for
our patients. We have qualified and western experienced
professionals of diverse nationalities who are picked up
through a meticulous, three-tier recruiting process. We
give them continuous in-house training which enables
them to adapt to the quality level we aspire to
maintain, and support our vision and mission. It is the
nursing care that distinguishes between a good hospital
and a great hospital.”
Apart from its various upcoming projects in the
Sultanate including clinics and a chain of pharmacies,
Starcare Health Systems plans to enter the healthcare
sector in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE in the near
future. It also seeks to expand the operation to India
where it is looking to set up various hospitals and
pharmacies.
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