Overcoming Adversity to Provide Quality Patient Care

We provided a family from Doha, Qatar the means to get their youngest son treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital, despite complications.

The Challenge

This was the second time the family had to travel to London for treatment, both times during the global pandemic. This time, the family required long-term accommodation in England to stay with him during treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The pandemic created several complications for the family. Every country’s rules and regulations were subject to change, which meant we needed to check each of the country’s arrival and departure COVID-19 requirements and adapt quickly, often at the last minute.

The family also had to enter a seven-day mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival in Doha. The youngest child would be at risk during this time, as his medical condition required daily tests, monitoring and treatment. The lack of care for the patient concerned his doctors, so we extended their stay in London to ensure the patient was strong enough to safely quarantine on arrival in Doha.

In addition to the travel challenges brought on by the pandemic, we also ran into a roadblock with the patient’s mother’s visa status. Her visa had expired and had to be renewed, causing further delays.

The Solution

We booked the same long-stay apartment for them as they had stayed in for their first trip to London in October 2020, to provide them with some familiarity during a challenging time.

Our team also sorted the extension of accommodation, as COVID rules and visa complications extended their stay. The family’s return flights had to be rebooked four times due to the delays brought on by hotel quarantine requirements and visa issues.

We sped up the process of renewing the mother’s visa with daily calls to government agencies and the Department of Public Health in Qatar.

The Outcome

We enabled the family to stay in London through the process by arranging travel, accommodation, and resolving the visa issues. The family flew back to Doha after spending 132 days in the UK, due to the fluctuating quarantine guidelines and flight regulations.

There are so many challenges facing families involved in clinical trials that aren’t always considered. We are delighted to have a role in assisting families and taking just a little bit of that hardship off their shoulders by arranging travel logistics and being there to support them throughout.

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We’re on a mission to truly put patients first in clinical research. Through our personalised patient-focused services and digital technologies, we support patients at each stage of the clinical journey.

Our approach to patient health drastically reduces patient drop-out rates and prevents disruption to your clinical trial, getting products to market faster.

Get in touch to see how we can support your patients and boost the success of your clinical trial.