Qatar health chief sees increase in labourer injuries

Injuries to labourers has outstripped road crash trauma as the most common seen by occupational therapists in Qatar, it emerged on Thursday.

Senior occupational therapists disclosed said there had been an increase in the rate of accidents occurring on construction sites.

Speaking to Gulf Times, Rumailah Hospital’s Occupational Therapy Department acting chief Shoba Chacko, said the number of such cases had outstripped road accidents which used to be a major cause of trauma.

“Out of all the units in our department, the hand therapy unit is seeing a lot of patients, up to 70 cases daily both in the outpatient and inpatient sections, presenting injuries they sustained to their hands while at work, this category is followed by road traffic trauma, which used to be the lead cause of accidents,” Chacko told the paper.

The unit specialises in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with hand and wrist injuries.

Chacko said the department, which is already serving all Hamad Medical Corporation’s hospitals, planned to expand the hand and upper extremity unit to the Al Khor Hospital and Wakrah Hospital.

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