Non-urgent elective surgeries to resume in Dubai

Dubai: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) announced on Saturday that all hospitals and one-day surgery centres licensed by the authority can resume non-urgent elective surgeries from March 21, Dubai Media Office announce in a tweet on Saturday.

All precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, remain in place, the DHA said.

In a circualar sent to all health care facilities in Dubai, DHA further said the elective surgeries would be resumed in all disciplines while observing the current medical protocols in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Procedures

Elective and non-urgent services are procedures which are not life-threatening but can be conducted as per the convenience of the patient for improvement of their quality of life. Durign the elective surgery ban, hospitals were permitted to carry out surgeries that were deemed emergency or life-saving procedrues. These included trauma, cancer, neuro and other such disciplines where the surgery was imperative to save the life of the patient.

Guidelines

Now with the lifting of the ban on elecitve surgeries, hosptials are permitted to carry out surgical procedures in all disciplines that also includes dental and cosmetic surgeries. The circular, however, states that all the hospitals will abide by the bed occupancy percentage and preserve inpatient and Intensive Care Unit beds for COVID-19 patients whereveer necessary as per the previous circulars.