The Ministry of Health has numerous short and long term plans to address hospital waiting lists and overcrowding, the head of Health Affairs in Jeddah has said. Sami Badawoud said that long term plans include the opening of three new hospitals within a year to provide an extra 1,050 beds, one in the north of the city with 500 beds, a second in the east with 300, and the third being the Medical Tower Hospital housing 250 beds. Badawoud said that health Affairs had begun its Home Healthcare and Family Management programs, as well as its one-day operations scheme in which patients are discharged from the facility the same day. ‘Medical device market to grow' Meanwhile, a new research carried out by RNCOS says the medical device market in the Kingdom is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around seven percent in the next three years. The report titled “Saudi Arabian Healthcare Market Forecast to 2012” also encapsulates reliable statistics on the number of hospitals and beds in each hospital to give a fair idea about the current status of hospital service market in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia represents one of the most lucrative healthcare markets in the world. Healthcare spending in the country has grown at a rapid pace in the last few years. The new research has done an extensive study on the medical device market in the Kingdom, with focus on present and future trends to enable clients understand the market dynamics. With increasing awareness among people about having a healthy lifestyle, the medical device industry in Saudi Arabia will see strong growth in demand.
