The grace period granted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for illegal expatriates to rectify their status or leave the country without punishment is being exploited by some private hospitals to facilitate the escape of doctors involved in medical error cases.
The Ministry of Interior has noticed that this illegal practice has taken precedence and has requested provincial governorates to take appropriate measures to prevent any furtive escape attempts by hospital workers who are facing legal procedures and investigations.
A number of cases of medical error are currently under investigation, in which expatriate doctors and other health care practitioners are implicated. The Ministry of Health’s joint medical and legal committees are currently investigating these cases.
“Health establishments in the private sector can help the expatriate doctors or other technical staff involved in medical error cases to leave the country because the names of those expatriate workers do not figure in the list of those who are prohibited from leaving the country,” a local newspaper quoted an informed source as saying.
Reporting an expatriate worker as absconding is a simple ploy to enable a doctor or nurse under investigation to legally escape from the country. Such a report qualifies an expatriate to claim the concessions of the Passport Department to leave the country during the amnesty period.
The Ministry of Interior has requested governorates to place the names of all the expatriate medical workers subject to investigations and litigation on the list of people prohibited from leaving the country. The list would also be sent to all the Passport Department offices around the Kingdom in a move to ensure the rights of victims are protected and punishments meted out to the culprits.
Doctors under investigation misuse amnesty to flee
