Saudi supervisors, managers to be made mandatory in medical complexes

Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health plans changes at medical complexes in 7 cities ensuring that the technical supervisor be a Saudi doctor. He or she must also be qualified in the nature of the complex’s work, and have a valid professional license from the Saudi Commission for Specialties.

The ministry also requires that the administrative director in private health institutions be Saudi, and hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

This came in the draft executive regulations for the private health institutions, recently proposed by the Ministry of Health, and included a number of general requirements for health complexes, such as there be at least a consultant doctor or an equivalent physician with a doctorate degree, and at least be a first deputy doctor in the cities of Riyadh, Mecca, Medinah, Jeddah, Dammam, Khobar, and only a deputy doctor is sufficient for the remaining cities.

Requirements for medical complexes and their licenses include the licensed physician be a specialist in one of the basic specialties and at least a deputy physician for each other specialty, providing an emergency department on the ground floor or in the upper floors and securing a modern ambulance.

A full-time first doctor and a deputy doctor must be available for each specialty in Riyadh, Mecca, Medinah, Jeddah, Dammam, and Khobar, while in other cities, two full-time vice doctors must be available for each specialty.

In dental complex, a first deputy doctor must be provided, full-time in dentistry in Riyadh, Mecca, Madinah, Jeddah, Dammam, Al Khobar, while in other cities a full-time deputy dentist must be provided.

Doctors working in medical complexes or clinics are prohibited from performing operations in hospitals, except after notifying the Directorate of Health Affairs.