MAKKAH, 7 June — The Ministry of Health has amended regulations that govern medical practice by visiting foreign experts at local hospitals.
According to the amended regulations, the visiting doctor or technical expert should be in a specialty not available or rare in the Kingdom. He should be a registered practitioner in his own country. The specialist doctor can work only with a hospital that has the facilities to make use of his skills.
The new regulations also specify that a doctor who had been deported from the country for any reason or punished for medical malpractice or any other crime is not eligible for the service. The visit should not be for less than 15 days in the case of surgeons and 10 days for consultants. The hospital will be responsible for any medical errors arising from the visiting doctor’s practice.
The new regulations stipulate that a doctor in the same specialization from the hospital should accompany the visiting doctor. The local specialist should be responsible for preparing the patient before the arrival of the foreign expert. He should also take part in the diagnosis, treatment and surgery, if any, and follow up of the patient’s condition after the visiting doctor’s departure. The local specialist should take necessary precautions to meet any complications that might develop after the treatment or surgery and when the visiting doctor is away.
The application to invite a visiting doctor should be submitted to the health directorate under which the hospital is operating along with copies of the doctor’s credentials. A full statement of the visiting doctor’s program during his stay in the country should be submitted along with the application. The doctor should also agree to obey the regulations in the Kingdom and respect Islamic traditions.
The local specialist, on the other hand, should agree to closely follow up the case and tackle any complications that may arise later. Besides, he should agree to present himself representing the hospital before inquiry commissions and legal bodies in the event of any complaints about the treatment or diagnosis. He should also submit copies of his credentials to the Saudi Authority for Medical Specialization.
The amendments also stipulate that the hospital produce a bank guarantee of SR150,000. The hospital should publicize the arrival of the specialist only after the health directorate gave its approval.
