• Home

'Insurance is only solution to rising healthcare costs'

"The need for health insurance has been based on studies undertaken by experts. We have been working on the issue during the whole of 2006," he said in an exclusive interview to Khaleej Times.

He pointed out that according to the law, every employer or sponsor has to pay for medical expenses of his employee and the family.

Murooshid said that it was the Executive Office's decision to introduce health insurance. "At present, we are putting in place a total plan to implement the health insurance scheme. This will be done in the beginning of 2007," he said.

The introduction of health insurance would put an end to complaints from people regarding the increasing cost of healthcare. "For us, it will help us reduce our costs and make the services efficient. We have to make sure that we are working efficiently, it is as simple as that," he said.

He, however, made it clear that healthcare could not be free-for-all ever again. "But yes, we are improving the healthcare services for the future, and health insurance is the answer to the problem of high cost," Murooshid added.

"The expectation to have healthcare free for all once again is much too high. If you go back to the earlier days from the 1970-90s, the population was lesser. Now Dubai is growing with a rate of over 10 per cent, how much will the population be in another 10 years?" he asked.

"With a present population of 1.5 million which is growing rapidly, is it sensible to expect free healthcare for such a huge number of people?" he asked.

He explained that the government's announcement to increase the cost of healthcare services two years ago was not sudden. "It was expected. There was a time when healthcare was free but the total population — including locals and expatriates — now cannot get free healthcare," he said adding, no differentiation was being made between locals and non-locals.

"I do admit that the cost is rising, yes, but I don't believe that it is happening only in Dubai or the UAE. It is happening all over the world and this is why we are imposing fees so that we can improve our services."

Asked to comment on why people preferred to visit private hospitals for quicker and efficient services after the increase by the government, the DG said that it was the right of the people to choose.

"We are talking about the same product and service, so why should it be given cheaper by the government. Why are you expecting us to be cheaper than the private sector," he asked.

He noted that the private healthcare sector was growing rapidly in the UAE. "We have many clinics and hospitals, but still people are not forced to go to a particular hospital. According to my knowledge, there are 17 private hospitals in Dubai, so the people have a right to choose," he said.

Talking about the high fees charged by the private sector, he said that they too had to bear a huge cost. "You have to be reasonable here, because if you need good healthcare services, then you need to pay for it," he said.

"You cannot expect low costs and latest equipment as well as trained and qualified staff," he said . "More hospitals are coming up and the competition will benefit the people," he added.

On cases of malpractice, the DG said that the Mortality and Morbidity committee came across over 1,000 cases last year. "It is not necessarily reported by families," he said.

"Recently we started accepting complaints of malpractice from individuals and the private sector. Before a doctor is found guilty, the mistakes have to be classified. This is called Plain Free Culture," he explained.

He said if a doctor was found guilty, then his licence would be cancelled, he would be banned and stopped from practicing in Dohms jurisdiction. "We cannot just blame doctors for somebody's death. Last year, two to three doctors were fired from Dohms while several others were banned from practising in the private sector.

Talking about complaints against Rashid Hospital including a shortage of beds and lack of proper response in the emergency unit, the DG said recently 120 beds had been added in the trauma centre. "This is about a 35 per cent increase. We have a total of 1,800 beds in Dohms hospitals with an occupancy of 100 per cent. Rashid Hospital is very busy which proves that people are still preferring the government sector despite increase in the cost," he added.

Elaborating on the recent initiative taken by Dohms to treat needy expatriate patients in Dohms hospitals, Murooshid said that the initiative was taken by charity groups. "As long as patients are treated and paid for, anybody can approach Dohms hospitals," he added.

He assured that in the future, people could expect ''more efficient and expanded'' healthcare services from the department.

• UAE