Report complaints against private healthcare facilities using website, urges MoHAP

Community members can report medical, administrative grievances

by

Saman Haziq

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Representational image
Representational image

Published: Fri 29 Oct 2021, 2:01 PM

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) has urged community members to use the electronic system to report healthcare malpractices in private facilities.

The service ensures that health care providers comply with policies and regulations for such facilities.


The ministry is going the extra mile in improving e-services to improve health care delivery in the country through innovative solutions and quality systems.

The e-complaint system makes it easier for members of the public to report medical and administrative complaints about private health facilities and their medical staff. In addition, the complainant can track the status of his complaint until the final outcome following the end of investigations.


The new system is big on ease of use, impartiality, confidentiality, and reliability of the information provided by the complainant, which helps in better handling of complaints and provides a good data reference to enhance transparency and credibility.

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Enhancing compliance

Abeer Adel, head of licensing section at Mohap, said: “The e-complaint system to report malpractices of the private medical facilities and their staff is part of Mohap’s e-services package, which aim to improve the quality of health system, innovate smart solutions, and adhere to quality systems, in order to develop services, and contribute to the development of public policies and strategies."

The ministry is committed to dealing with any malpractices or medical errors among private facilities — if proven — accurately and transparently, Adel underlined.

“To that end, the ministry has provided a legislative umbrella that includes clear controls and requirements regarding medical practices in accordance with the Federal Decree-Law.

Adel hinted that the number of complaints is within the lowest global rates in developed countries, thanks to the strict standards and requirements followed by the ministry while issuing licenses to private facilities. Periodic inspections and monitoring campaigns and the cooperation of clinics ensure quality health care.

Impartial medical committee

Dr Hessa Ali Mubarak, director of the control, audit and inspection department, said: “The new system is an important asset to the existing procedures, as it eases the handling of complaints for all stakeholders to achieve the health compliance of private medical facilities.

“It allows all individuals, whether residents or visitors, to file a complaint about private health facilities together with all the supporting evidence, if any,” she added.

She said that a neutral medical committee will be formed to investigate the incident and will hear both parties, as well as assess the procedures followed by the doctor.

“A report is then submitted to the Medical Licensing Committee at Mohap to take an action and address all parties concerned,” she added.

She said that private health facilities are constantly monitored to ensure that there are no wrongdoings, and to reduce cases of medical negligence and errors. These campaigns have seen facilities violating prescribed norms being penalised and fined, and even closed down, she said.

Doctors who commit medical errors are usually referred to the Medical Licensing Committee which decides on the penalties according to Federal Law No. (5) of 2019 Concerning the Regulation of Practice of Human Medicine Profession. The committee in charge of considering medical complaints will feature experts in various medical fields to decide on the submitted medical complaints and issue reports that can be appealed by the complainant within 30 days of its issuance. In this case, the challenged reports will be referred to the Higher Medical Liability Committee for re-investigation.

- saman@khaleejtimes.com


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