GMC opens hospital in Malawi

The Ajman-based Gulf Medical College and Research Center with hospitals in Dubai, Ajman and Fujairah ventures into the African market.

It set up a hospital in Malawi recentlty and plans to expand the network to other African countries such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola and Mauritius and integrate their operations with the medical facilities in the UAE.

“We get a number of patients from Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria and other African countries. Taking into account the demand for healthcare in these countries, we have set up a 20-bed hospital in Malawi. Now it has proved to be popular for the African customers because they don’t have to spend money on plane tickets and come to the UAE. Our doctors in Ajman GMC can even guide them in surgeries through video conferencing,” said Akbar Moideen Thumbay, Director of GMC Hospital.

The Blantyre City-based GMC Hospital in Malawi, inaugurated in April 2010, is receiving good response. "We intend to increase the number of hospital beds in Malawi to 50, as part of the Dh300 plus million expansion plan to increase medical tourists,” he added. 

The telemedicine facility in Malawi, the first in that country, helps Malawians save foreign exchange. GMC Hospital Malawi boasts modern facilities and services, which are all competitively priced to benefit all sections of the society.

The group is contemplating hospital projects in Mauritius, a country that attracts lot of medical tourists. “Even if patients in the African hospital cannot speak English, one of the staff members will translate Afrikkan and facilitate communication between patients and doctors,” he added.

"A lot of these patients who suffer from arthritis have already undergone knee replacement surgeries under the watchful eyes of specialised surgeons of Ajman GMC. And  to improve patient care, the group recently got accreditation from a leading UK-based healthcare accreditation agency. Many hospitals, clinics and labs are advised by the Ministry of Health to obtain accreditation for licence renewal, many are still lagging behind.

Accreditation standards 

GMC Hospital and Research Center became the first hospital in the Middle East to receive accreditation from UK-based QHA-TRENT, an accreditation agency active in the UK, Hong Kong and other markets. 

GMC Hospital, Ajman has brought about a lot of changes since the beginning of the accreditation process. The standards adopted by the hospital are at par with world standards and spare no effort in maintaining the quality of patient care.

The QHA-Trent Accreditation, UK is the only whole hospital accreditation based with the UK National Health Services (NHS.)  Consequently, they have access to all the up-to-date medical practices. The QHA-Trent Accreditation, UK standards are revised as practices change and new guidelines are issued by practicing staff. 

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