The hospital has provided treatment for more than 4 million patients since it was first established. A report of the Hospital Patients Affairs Department revealed that 2018 witnessed a growth in the number of patients, reaching more 257,000 patients compared to 238,000 patients in 2017. The report stated that the hospital has also operated the evening clinics to meet the patients’ needs. In addition, the hospital increased the outpatient clinics capacity by (20%) at the beginning of 2019.
The report showed the success that KKESH achieved in carrying out more than 12,200 surgeries, 916 of which are surgical procedures of cornea and tissue transplantation, 9 are of Keratoprosthesis transplantation, and a surgery for replacing the endothelium of the cornea and the Descemet's membrane, which was performed for the first time in the Kingdom.
The report also showed a significant improvement in the performance of the patient call center. The number of answered calls was more than 340,000 phone calls compared to 263,000 in 2017, which means an increase of 29%. This development was due to the expansion of the patient call center, the application of the latest communication technologies, and the improvement programs designated to continuously improve the patient's experience at the hospital.
In 2018, KKESH was ranked the first on the general performance indicator for the interactive call center it has. Competing other medical cities and specialized hospitals in the Kingdom, KKESH won the first place for the second year in a row. The Ministry of Health honored KKESH for the distinguished service it provided, with which patients showed a 95% satisfaction. The ceremony was held recently in Madinah.
His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the Saudi Ophthalmology Society, SOS, opened the ceremony which started with verses from the Holy Quran. Then Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi addressed a remark in which he reviewed the achievements of KKESH and its distinction in care, education and training in ophthalmology. In the ceremony, 461 doctors from the Kingdom and 37 others trained in sub-specialties from the GCC countries celebrated their graduation.
The chairman explained that KKESH is one of the leading medical institutions in the region due to the number of researches it published. The total number of scientific projects published in 2018 was 116 researches and 75 scientific articles. The hospital has many achievements in the field of medical care and patient service. For example, the increased capacity of the outpatient clinics and the Short Stay Unit by 20% at the end of 2018, winning the first place in the performance indicator of the Ministry of Health 937 among all other medical sectors in the kingdom for two consecutive years, winning the Minister's Award for voluntary qualitative initiatives, and having the highest evaluation score from CBAHI in the essential safety requirements for patients' safety (Essential Safety Requirements ESR).
The chairman also shed the light on the importance of the national campaign, "Help me to see” conducted by KKESH in cooperation with the Saudi Center for Organ Donation in order to encourage the donation of cornea after death instead of importing it.
He added that the Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah will launch the national program of "Retinopathy of prematurity, ROP" on Sunday.
Then, Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz gave a speech in which he explained that the Saudi Ophthalmology Society, SOS, aims at encouraging medical education. In more than 30 years, SOS organized 31 annual scientific meetings and more than 80 scientific symposia in different regions of the Kingdom to educate working doctors and primary health care professionals, he added. SOS held more than 190 public symposia to raise the awareness of common eye diseases. It also issued 23 pamphlets to spread health awareness. Prince Abdulaziz pointed out that the Saudi Journal of Ophthalmology has achieved a distinguished position as a peer reviewed journal which is concerned with publishing studies and scientific researches that benefit specialized researchers and aim at developing researches on ophthalmology. Saudi Journal of Ophthalmology is electronically issued, and it is available on the most famous international websites specialized in the publication of scientific and medical journals. Available in Arabic and English, the website of SOS continues its success in serving the ophthalmology community in line with meeting the aspirations of SOS members and the ophthalmology community.
His Royal Highness also drew the attention to the focus of this year's symposium; the new developments in the field of ophthalmology, optometry, and visual impairment prevention. The number of participants in this symposium reached 1800 participants who are interested in the field of ophthalmology. Those are mainly doctors, optometrists, and experts in visual impairment prevention. In addition, 45 medical companies participated in the medical exhibition that accompanied the meeting.
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz bestowed medals to a number of distinguished ophthalmologists. He also honored a number of medical companies for their support. His Royal Highness then visited the accompanying medical exhibition, which included 45 platforms showing the latest medical devices in the field of ophthalmology.
The Saudi Ophthalmology Symposium 2019 lasted for three days. It is the largest scientific meeting on ophthalmology in the GCC countries as more than 18 international professors and 160 speakers from within the Kingdom participated in it.