The Ministry of Health will penalize and name and shame private medical institutions and pharmacies which break the law, said Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health. The ministry has conducted an exhaustive study on the subject, local media reports said. The minister has ordered that the penalties and names of erring facilities should be published in three local newspapers, including in the city where the facility is situated. If there is no newspaper in the city, the decision must be published in the nearest local newspaper. The ministry said violators must also pay the fees for publishing the information in the three local newspapers. Meanwhile, Dr. Muhammad Bin Hamza Khasheem, Undersecretary for Planning and Development at the Ministry of Health, said the ministry will soon win back the trust of Saudi patients. “We don't have any doctors leaving public hospitals for private ones. We have 7,000 male and female Saudi doctors and if some of them go to private-sector hospitals, it doesn't mean that we have lost them to the private sector.” The ministry is working on improving the competency of doctors by sending them abroad on scholarships, he added. He said that 600 Saudi doctors recently passed the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties examination, which is a sign that medical services will improve in future. He said medical staff are on the same salary scale and doctors will get more allowances in future. He added that the ministry's new hospitals will have 20 diabetes centers and other medical specializations. Regarding medical errors at Saudi hospitals, Khasheem said medical errors are a global problem and the ministry is working on monitoring and educating doctors and nurses about medical safety. “The ministry will also penalize any medical professional who commits an error, whether such an error was made because of his negligence or because of lack of proper equipment.”
