Ministry of Health outlines medical complaint procedures

Dr Amin Al Amiri said his ministry has several sanctions for malpractice or negligence and that warnings are issued to practitioners. Ultimately, a doctor may be blacklisted. Mona Al-Marzooqi / The NaShow more

ABU DHABI // Every week, a doctor in the Northern Emirates is warned about malpractice or negligence after a complaint from their patients or peers, the Ministry of Health has revealed.

Complaints vary from the attitude of medical staff to inadequate treatment that made the condition worse, said Dr Amin Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for public health and licensing at the MoH.

“Patients have reported their dissatisfaction with the treatment and with the physician themselves,” Dr Al Amiri said.

“Sometimes a patient has complained of pain or disease that goes undiscovered or untreated by his doctor. The patient learns from another doctor that their illness should have been diagnosed earlier and comes to us to ask what went wrong.”

Dr Al Amiri said the MoH – in charge of handling complaints for hospitals and medical centres in the Northern Emirates – takes any grievance seriously.

A claim against a doctor is assessed by a panel of three of his or her peers. Based on their report, the ministry will assess a claim and recommend a course of action.

“It is a very comprehensive practice to make sure any judgment against any person is without bias at the highest level of probity,” Dr Al Amiri said.

A verbal or written warning is the most common form of action, the minister said.

“The warning we give is something very simple and common to health practitioners in general,” Dr Al Amiri said. “It is just to put him in a position to understand clearly the mistake and make sure those mistakes are not repeated.”

The MoH issues about two to three warnings every two weeks, he said.

The next step is suspending a doctor from practising for up to six months. The strongest sanction is blacklisting.

Five doctors in the Northern Emirates have been blacklisted in the past five years. They cannot work in the UAE or the GCC.

Dr Al Amiri said those who were struck off were guilty of “either gross medical malpractice or for issuing controlled medicines against the code of ethics to the patients”.

While many complaints are without foundation, Dr Al Amiri believes patients speak out in good faith.

“Only 30 to 40 per cent will be a true complaint,” he said. “The others will be a sort of belief from the patient – they believe there is an error.”

Dr Al Amiri said while some complications are unavoidable, others are not and it is the MoH’s job to separate the two.

There are many ways to submit a complaint to the MoH, he said. A patient or family member can make a complaint in writing to the MoH or via its website.

Complaints of medical malpractice or negligence could also be submitted by an inspector carrying out spot checks on hospitals or clinics.

A MoH medical licensing committee, which handles medical complaints, convenes every two weeks.

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Health Authority Abu Dhabi (Haad) handle complaints of medical malpractice or negligence in their respective emirates.