The Ministry of Health (MOH) has intensified its inspection tours to ensure implementation of the preventive measures to combat infection in health institutions. In continuation of its efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, MOH’s compliance teams have carried out 47,934 field oversight visits over the past month of November.
The Ministry has pointed out that the field oversight visits focused on targeted sections and violations all over the regions of the Kingdom. It included all types of health institutions, with 34,711 visits to ensure the implementation of precautionary measures and 13,223 routine visits.
In this respect, MOH has accentuated that the daily awareness oversight visits were intensified to enhance the level of commitment inside health institutions such as hospitals, complexes, pharmacies, etc. The visits also aimed at ensuring abidance by preventive measures against the coronavirus, including mask-wearing and physical distancing. Additionally, the visits monitored the application of both health requirements and the approved health practice mechanisms to manage such pandemic, as well as the provision of necessary requirements for patient safety.
MOH revealed that more than 754 violations were found, including 101 violations against hospitals, 389 against medical complexes, 196 against pharmacies, and 68 against support services institutions.
Moreover, 16 closures were implemented, including 7 of medical complexes, 8 of support service institutions, and one closure of a laboratory. Most of those closures are precautionary until the violations are corrected. Many of those institutions are allowed to resume their activity after correcting the violations, with regular financial fines issued against them to make sure such breaches do not occur again. 136 health professionals were penalized and 994 violations of precautionary measures were reported.
It is noteworthy that MOH aims to promote self-control among private health institutions by enabling them to evaluate their adherence to the health standards through the electronic self-assessment program. The institution can obtain a corrective period and will not be penalized if voluntary discloses that a certain health standard is not met, with an immediate cessation of an activity that poses a risk to patient safety. The corrective period will be lost and a penalty imposed if the violations discovered by the compliance team were not disclosed by the institution.
MOH urged healthcare providers and health professionals to adhere to the health requirements stipulated in the health regulations, alongside the preventive measures adopted in the Kingdom. This comes to preserve the safety of patients and avoid penalties that could amount to a fine of SAR 300,000, closure of the facility, and withdrawing the license of the health institution and practitioners for up to two years.