JEDDAH, 23 May 2007 — The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) stopped more than 6,700 health workers in the Kingdom from practicing in the last five years, of which 99.99 percent were foreigners, said Abdullah Al-Zhayyan, head of SCHS’ public relations department.

Among those prevented from working were 572 people with fake certificates — these workers were mainly visual and X-ray technicians, and nurses. The rest of were simply unqualified to practice. Health workers in the Kingdom are advised to register themselves at the SCHS, which processes their certificates and issues them with licenses to practice. Such workers are made to sit obligatory exams before being allowed to continue working.

“People providing fake certificates can be found out since they show they are unprofessional while at work. The commission sets the rules of sorting certificates, and hand unfit expatriate workers to the Passport Department, which then deports them,” Al-Zhayyan said, adding that Saudis are transferred to the security forces in the Diplomatic Quarter, where the SCHS is located.

“Some physicians are considered to be consultants in their countries but here they are considered specialists, according to the local criteria and examinations after registration,” said Al-Zhayyan.

People that have given fake details are permanently stopped from working in the health sector and their names are put on a blacklist. If workers are not adequately qualified, they are temporarily stopped and then allowed to resume work after undergoing relevant examinations proving they have improved.

“Private clinics and hospitals often fail to cooperate by recruiting people without registering them at the commission. If they were compelled to register then we would know exactly how many of the Kingdom’s workers are competent and how many aren’t,” said Al-Zhayyan, adding that the main reason behind this is a desire to save SCHS registration fees. This is despite the fact that the commission charges very little. “Paying compensation on account of medical errors caused by incompetent workers costs a lot more. Our mission is to guarantee the quality of the health practitioners,” he said, adding that the SCHS is an independent body.

“We wish citizens would cooperate with us and report health practitioners who they feel are unqualified or have fake qualifications through the hospital’s administration or directly to us. These are rare cases though,” he said.

After being licensed, practitioners are supposed to annually renew their SCHS registration. Expatriates are required to do this every three years.

In addition to the SCHS’s headquarters in Riyadh, the commission has six other branches in Madinah, Jeddah, Abha, Al-Ahsa, Alkhobar and Buraidah.