Employees “Connect with Kind Words” During the Holy Month
Qtel employee volunteers visited the Hamad Medical Centre Kidney Dialysis recently, to visit patients undergoing treatment there.
Visiting the sick is a key charitable obligation that is greatly encouraged during the Holy Month of Ramadan, and Qtel provides full support for its employees to undertake this duty, including providing time off and transport to hospitals and health centres across Qatar.
The visit by a delegation of Qtel employees provided a welcome relief for the dialysis patients, whose treatment time averages four hours per session, and is known to be an uncomfortable procedure.
Volunteers spent time with a number of patients receiving treatment at the facility, accompanied by nephrologist Dr. Ashraf Ahmed, who provided Qtel visitors with a briefing on hospital services available for those suffering from kidney and related ailments.
Patients suffering from kidney disease often require multiple dialysis sessions every week, and visits and kind words can help lessen the stress of the process. The Qtel volunteers also presented the patients with Hala cards, so that they could call home and friends and family.
Adel Al Mutawa, Executive Director of Group Communications, Qtel, said: “At this time of year, it is important that we think of those who are suffering. By spending time with the people in Hamad Medical Centre, we hope that we are bringing relief in a difficult time.”
Several of the patients expressed interest in the planned opening of the new dialysis facility at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), which is to be named in memory of HE Sheikh Fahad Bin Jassim Al Thani, who died earlier this year. The Fahad Bin Jassim Kidney Centre, which is fully supported and sponsored by Qtel, will provide accommodate 80 beds in total, including 20 private rooms. The Centre will be located in the Bin Omran area, right across from the HMC complex.
One of the key practices of the Holy Month is to stop bad habits and to use kind words when speaking to all people. Qtel’s “Connect with Kind Words” campaign looks to encourage people to resolve arguments in a courteous way, to reach out to friends and family, and to always speak to people the way you would want to be spoken to.
Qtel has a long history of organising volunteer visits to hospitals and healthcare centres during the Holy Month, and is hoping to link the practice with the wider “Kind Words” campaign.
The Kidney Dialysis Unit at Hamad Medical Corporation is one of the most advanced units in the Middle East. It uses a range of techniques and treatments to support some 400 patients who undergo dialysis a minimum of three times per week. The HMC Kidney Dialysis Unit also trains doctors and nurses from across the region in the latest modern techniques of renal dialysis.
In addition to the Qtel-sponsored volunteer hospital visits throughout Ramadan, Qtel sponsors activities such as the daily distribution of Iftar snacks of water and dates, and is hosting Suhours for Qtel customers, employees and their families.
