These are some of the findings of the first in-depth survey conducted by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) to study if clinical services are equipped to meet the sharp spurt in demand for quality health care following the mandatory insurance scheme and medical tourism initiative announced by the government.
Announcing the findings of this study on the sidelines of the 40th Arab Health Exhibition and Congress, Eisa Al Maidour, director-general of DHA, said: “The results of the survey indicate that Dubai needs a large number of health-care facilities in population clusters like Region No 5, which includes Jebel Ali, Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Al Maktoum airport.”
Explaining how the health authorities will ensure balanced growth of services, Al Maidour said: “We are launching a strategy to balance geographical distribution of health services.”
Illustrating the point, Al Maidour said the study reveals a saturation of health services in Region 3 — Jumeirah and surrounding areas. “This means we need to limit issuing new licences in these areas till the need arises.”
To achieve this, the DHA will issue a certificate of need for health projects to ensure that an investor does not have a competitor across the road, safeguarding the best return on his investment. “This certificate will ensure that facilities are built keeping in mind the geographical location and access and prevent over- or under-utilisation of health facilties. The detailed survey will help us support decision-making in the field of health care investment, new physician licences and development of new facilities,” Al Maidour said.
The study will help the government make projections on the number of medical colleges and nursing institutes required to ensure a continuous flow of high-quality professionals.
Salah Al Merri, director of the Corporate Excellence Department at DHA, said: “Through this study, we have identified gaps in some areas of health care so that we can guide those in charge of developing medical programmes in choosing the specialities in demand. Medical students can then specialise based on this demand. For instance, the study projects a demand for 4,900 paediatricians and 595 anaesthetologists by 2020. So we are looking at ways to encourage our students to opt for these disciplines to fill the gap.”
Al Maidour emphasised public private partnerships to meet the heavy investment in the sector, which is growing by at least 15 per cent every year.
The DHA is creating a seamless online licensing system to help investors in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies complete the formalities online.
“Currently, building a hospital costs a minimum of Dh50 million. The DHA Regulations Department has 10 hospitals under construction that are expected to be ready next year, but we will require many more. So one can imagine the kind of investment required,” he said.
The study covered all health-care facilities in Dubai, including those of the DHA, Dubai Healthcare City, Ministry of Health, private sector and free zones.