RAS AL KHAMIAH // Federal National Council members visited Hamad Obaidullah Hospital for the Elderly on Wednesday to check on the quality of care there.
Staff detailed to the council’s health committee the type of facilities and treatment available to patients.
“Our visit today is focused on the services and treatment offered to the elderly inside and outside the hospital,” said Salem Al Ameri, from Abu Dhabi, head of the committee.
“It comes as a part of our visits to various hospitals and institutions in every emirate.”
Mr Al Ameri said the committee had visited a nursing home in Sharjah and hospitals in Al Dhaid, Ajman and Al Ain.
During the RAK visit, members raised the issue of patients being kept waiting for long periods before receiving medical care.
They emphasised the importance of keeping doctors up to date with techniques and treatment.
Later, members spoke with patients and their doctors.
“The majority of our patients are over 50 years of age,” said Dr Yousef Abdualah, chief operations officer of the hospital.
“They can’t move and the majority of them are fed through tubes.”
Patients visited by members included a Bangladeshi man who was seriously injured in a car accident three years ago and lost all mobility and speech.
Nurses and staff carry out physical therapy to make sure his muscles do not atrophy. He is also fed through a tube.
Members heard that the hospital contacted the patient’s family in his home country to collect him, but they refused and he has been in their care ever since.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
Fixtures
Sunday, December 8, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v USA
Monday, December 9, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – USA v Scotland
Wednesday, December 11, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v Scotland
Thursday, December 12, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v USA
Saturday, December 14, ICC Academy, Dubai – USA v Scotland
Sunday, December 15, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v Scotland
Note: All matches start at 10am, admission is free
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
