JEDDAH, 30 June — The Ministry of Health is considering a scheme to allow private practice by medical specialists working in government hospitals under certain conditions.
“The Ministry of Health is currently studying viability of a plan to allow doctors work extra hours after regular duty in hospital premises. There are several patients who prefer to meet doctors during evenings and they can certainly afford to pay a fee,” Dr. Sameer Linjawi, director of health affairs in the Jeddah region, said.
The move will help reduce overcrowding at hospitals in the morning hours, he added.
Regular work hours in specialty clinics at government hospitals are from 7.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Linjawi said hospital premises could be used by doctors for private consultations after regular work hours. The system could be adopted on an experimental basis initially and, if proved successful, could be extended to all government hospitals, he added.
Linjawi said several studies have recommended inviting private investment to government hospitals. Businessmen should be allowed to buy and install expensive medical equipment in hospitals on a rental basis, he said.
The National Guard Hospitals are reportedly studying a scheme to allow civilians, including expatriates, to seek medical care there on payment of a fee.
Dr. Fahd Al-Abdul Jabbar, executive director general of the National Guard Hospitals, was quoted as saying in a recent report that government hospitals had started implementing a decision of the Council of Ministers on permitting Saudi consultants to practice after regular work hours in the hospital on an income-sharing basis.
The move is expected to trigger healthy competition in the medical sector.
