Muslim hospital gown by DCS

Hospitalisation may be necessary, but it is rarely pleasant. First priority is the patients health and safety, followed by general wellbeing. Other aspects often take second place, although it is well established that if a patient feels at ease it will aid recovery. To help a patient feel at ease cultural sensitivities must be taken into account. It is important for patients to be able to communicate, to have the support of visiting family and friends, and to have their personal beliefs and feelings respected. A key concern for many, especially female, patients on mixed hospital wards is their privacy and maintaining their decency. For Muslim lady patients this issue is magnified by a different perception of the meaning of decency vis-à-vis the opposite sex.

A company founded by Fatima Ba-Alawi in 2005 is now addressing this need. DCS Designs Ltd. (DCS stands for Dignity, Comfort & Safety) originally produced the DCS patient gown, a new and innovative patient gown that offers hospital patients all the comfort they need, reduce risk of injury by needles and maintain their privacy and dignity during their hospital stay. The design provides easy access to the patient’s body for examination without stripping the patient through different access areas for maximum comfort and minimum stress and pain. Furthermore, the design also makes it easy for the gown to be changed without the removal of any medical devises that may be attached to the patient, hence maintaining patient dignity while minimizing risk of injury as well as infection control. In addition to that, the DCS Patient Gown is designed in such a way that it provides more coverage at the rear of the gown, unlike the conventional gowns where patients have their bottoms exposed.

A comparison study between the DCS Patient Gown and a standard patient gown has been carried out and found that if a patient has drips attached and needs his/her gown changing, it would take between 5 - 7 minutes to change the gown adding to the pain and risk of syringe injury, while it would take only between 1 - 3 minutes if the patient is wearing a DCS gown, leaving the patient pain-free, stress-free and risk-free.

Now the company has developed and launched the "DCS Faith Gown" specifically designed for Muslim women patients.



DCS Faith Gown provides over-all coverage of the body. It provides maximum comfort & dignity for the patient. It offers full body length, long sleeves and a detachable head scarf, which is easy to wear one piece. The head scarf is detachable when required during patient examination or during surgery. The gown has a V neck line, which promotes comfort & ease of manoeuvrability for when a patient is sitting up.

The gown has fastening means along the whole upper sleeve line, which provides easy and quick access for examination. This feature also makes it possible to change the gown without exposing the patient, hence promote dignity & maintain privacy.

There is an examination window in the upper body, which provides easy access to the torso for examination as well as access for surgical procedures while maintaining patient privacy and saving time.

This is a most valuable contribution to make female Muslim patients feel more at ease during hospitalisation, and hospital staff and managers in areas with a sizeable Muslim presence should most certainly invest in this excellent product.