News Desk
KARACHI: Focusing on the importance of quick first response in children’s care, The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) launched, Child Connect, a free-of-cost one-stop solution for parents, on Monday, 17 August 2020. This solution revolves around the understanding that children are often unable to fully communicate the pain of their illness and need early intervention for ailment relief.
The Children’s Hospital of the AKUH aims to enhance its delivery of care and attend to every patient based on the level of their medical needs and urgency. Parents can now call the AKUH helpline to get connected to an on-call Paediatric Clinician for medical advice, completely free-of-cost. Based on the child’s medical history, the Paediatric Clinician will provide a diagnosis and the next course of action the parents should take. Where needed, Child Connect will provide the next-steps in the child’s treatment plan, including necessary prescription and facilitation with appointments and Emergency care.
The attendees of the launch ceremony included the leadership of AKU and AKUH; Shagufta Hassan, Interim CEO, AKUH, Dr. Adil Haider, Dean AKU Medical College, Dr. Rozina Karmaliani, Dean, AKU School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM), Dr. Asim Belgaumi, Chief Medical Officer, Salma Jaffer, Chief Nursing Officer, Dr. Abdul Gaffar Billoo, Professor Emeritus, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr. Salman Kirmani, Chair, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr. Hasnain Zafar, Associate Professor, General Surgery and Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer, and Dr. Ali Saleem, Service Line Chief, Children’s Hospital, amongst others.
‘During this catastrophe, we want to continue focusing on quality. We aim to keep innovating and improving child healthcare services on everyday basis.’ said Ms Hassan while discussing Child Connect’s role to further improve the quality of care for children.
‘During the pandemic, it has been extremely difficult for parents to connect with the hospital or a doctor. Child Connect will make it easier for parents to access paediatricians for timely child care.’ said Dr. Billoo, while highlighting the importance of timely care for children. Parents can avail free-of-cost consultation at Child Connect by calling our helpline: (021) 111 911 911, Monday through Saturday, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
