Autonomy for SMC soon

Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), the Kingdom’s biggest hospital under the Ministry of Health, is all set to get more autonomy, according to sources. The move comes as part of the ministry’s efforts to grant autonomy to government hospitals and health centers.

In order to promote efficiency and cost-saving, government healthcare facilities will be granted autonomy, according to Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health Dr. Waleed Khalifa Al Manea. He said that tasking the healthcare facilities will fuel the entities in becoming more proactive.

The facilities will be granted the freedom to make decisions on their own, he said. The move would see the roles of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and other government authorities in government healthcare facilities diminish, Mr. Al Manea told Tribune. Speaking about the benefits of autonomy, he said, “To define autonomy, it is the right to take all decisions with regard to the day-to-day functioning.

“The public healthcare sector will undergo a restructure and the Ministry of Health will not be the reporting body for the facilities. “There will be trustees and CEOs will be appointed for government hospitals as well as primary healthcare centers.” “These changes are being made out of the understanding that providers need more freedom to make decisions and the patients need more accessible services and better quality services.

“I know that we have these services, but we need to make improvements. This will also help the government by reducing their burden in the financing of such services as these autonomic facilities will generate income it needs to sustain themselves.