Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH – Health Affairs directorates in various regions of the Kingdom are rounding on Saudi doctors who work for private hospitals on a part-time basis to increase their income. Their work in these hospitals without the ministry's consent constitutes a flagrant violation of healthcare regulations, a source at the ministry was quoted as saying. He said 140 Saudi doctors who work for public hospitals have ignored the ministry's instructions and regulations, which strictly prevent them from taking on jobs in both public and private sectors. The source said the reports submitted to the ministry by the concerned authority at the ministry referred to indiscipline of Saudi doctors due to lack of monitoring and cover-up afforded them by owners of the private hospitals. The report shows that the owners of these hospitals attract these doctors by offering them huge salaries, a matter that makes them neglect their official jobs, especially in the emergency department. The drastic shortage of the ER doctors has crippled the work in these departments. The Ministry of Finance provides investors in private hospitals a financial grant of SR200 million, and this enables them to attract doctors working in government hospitals. The directors of health affairs discovered these violations during inspections tours in some regions and they brought these violations to the attention of responsible officials at the ministry. It is believed that these doctors and the private hospitals that employ them continue to ignore the rules because of the ministry's failure to take tough punitive measures against them.
