UAE | General
Health: A shift in days, that's all folks
The weekend shift, which came into effect yesterday, is unlikely to affect public healthcare services, officials said.
- By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 2, 2006
- Public hospital working hours will remain the same although the days will not.
- Image Credit:
Dubai: The weekend shift, which came into effect yesterday, is unlikely to affect public healthcare services, officials said.
As September 1 falls on a Friday, clinics and other hospitals will be closed for three days. The new weekend will not affect emergency and inpatient services.
Officials at the Ministry of Health, Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms) and Abu Dhabi General Authority on Health Services (Gahs) told Gulf News that hospital hours will remain the same although the days will not.
"For now, the hours are the same; hospitals will just have a shift in days," said a senior health ministry official, adding that the new schedule for ministry hospitals would come out in a few days. Dr Abdul Rahim Mostafawi, acting director of Al Wasl Hospital, said all hospital services, such as outpatient treatment, operating theatres and clinic appointments scheduled for Saturday would be shifted to Thursday. "Everything will be the same. Anything that is supposed to be on Saturday will now be on Thursday," said Dr Abdul Rahim Mostafawi, acting director of Al Wasl Hospital.
Notification
He added that patients with appointments in September were notified of the change in May.
Clinic hours at the hospitals remain the same from 8am to 2:30pm on weekdays. Primary healthcare centres will be open as usual from 7am to 10pm from Sunday to Thursday, and from 8am to noon on Saturday.
Public hospitals in Abu Dhabi, which are under Gahs, have also rescheduled their days albeit differently from Dohms.
Dr John Guy, medical director at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, said all hospital services would be brought over to the following days: Saturday appointments to Sunday, Sunday appointments to Monday and so on.
"We will have exactly the same service, it's just that everything will be moved from Saturday to Sunday," he said.
Share this article
Popular in UAE
-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- Shaikh Mohammad tells Dubai doubters to shut up
- Global crisis won't deter Dubai's ambition: Mohammad
- Reinforce the positive to fight the negative
- UAE-Pakistan Friendship Festival in Abu Dhabi
- Khalifa congratulates Karzai on re-election
- Khalifa receives congratulatory call from Talabani
- Camel in RAK gives birth to twins
- Saif is appointed Emiratisation chief
- Pavement parking irks pedestrians
- Man jailed 3 years in fatal assault of colleague
- Murder: Mother gets stiffer sentence
- Traffic Prosecution adopts humanitarian step
- UAE starts administering H1N1 vaccines
- 'All-green' project to ease traffic flow
- Complaints against cab drivers decline
Community Reports
-
Pavement parking irks pedestrians
Gulf News reader calls on authorities to step in and stop car owners from invading pathways meant for safe walking
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
