Private sector provides 20 percent of medical services in Kuwait

KUWAIT: Relevant Kuwaiti authorities have finished resolving all problems related to laws, regulations and remarks concerned with facilitating the recruitment of domestic helpers from the Philippines and other countries, said informed diplomatic sources. The sources added that the Kuwait-Philippines joint committee will meet next month to sign a number of agreements and discuss the Philippine president's visit in December. The sources added that the Kuwaiti coordination team concerned with Kuwait-Philippines talks on domestic helpers' recruitment, headed by the assistant foreign minister for consulate affairs Sami Al-Hamad, had recently met representatives from the foreign, interior and social affairs and labor ministries and as well as the manpower authority to discuss related concerns.

Heads of medical departments

The Ministry of Health (MoH) set Wednesday, September 26, as the deadline for newly-appointed heads of medical departments to submit their plans to develop work within their departments, adding that officials who fail to submit such plans will be replaced. In this regard, informed sources said that the legal tenure of new heads of departments will end on Aug 26, 2020 and that their development plans should handed to the minister's office in written form, including the plan and its schedule. Each head of department will be fully responsible before the minister for implementing it. Notably, the health minister recently appointed new heads of various medical departments with the aim of injecting 'new blood' and proving more opportunities and skills to match medical developments.

In another medical concern, MoH statistics showed that the total number of surgeries made by 12 private hospitals in Kuwait was 46,086 for males and 13,122 for female patients. Statistics also showed that the total number of doctors working for private hospitals is 27,000, in addition to around 6,000 nurses, providing 20 percent of medical services in Kuwait.

Fake degrees

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh denied that the list of names of holders of fake or uncertified degrees that the education ministry reported to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) includes any senior officials in any ministry, adding that full coordination is in progress between the ministry and CSC to track such degrees. Saleh explained that CSC has taken several measures concerning proven forgery cases including undoing all administrative decisions or promotions, recollecting all incentives unlawfully paid and contacting the manpower authority to suspend national labor support allowances and retrieve the sums paid. In other news, CSC has suspended recruitment through the Manpower and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP) and the Public Authority for Manpower until their merger process is completed, well-informed sources said.

Social care

Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeeh said tenants of social care homes can be temporarily moved from one care house to another in case of maintenance. Responding to a parliamentary inquiry made in this regard by MP Saleh Ashour, Sabeeh added that the decision is usually made by the concerned administration with the aim of providing care house tenants with the best and most comfortable accommodation.

By A Saleh