MOH Publications

Introduction
Health services receive much attention from our rulers, May Allah protect them, within the framework of the cultural renaissance and sustainable development of all infrastructure and service facilities throughout our beloved Kingdom.

 

There is consensus that the health sector is one of the Kingdom's shinning sectors in the march of development and construction. The Health sector has witnessed considerable development in term of the successive development plans, thanks be to Allah, and then to the State's strenuous efforts in supporting this pivotal sector.

 

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has a crucial role to play in the health development, proceeding from its responsibility for providing and implementing the health policy.

 

The Ministry's health strategy has placed particular emphasis on providing health services (including all services: preventive, curative and rehabilitative services) for all citizens, and promoting the accessibility and feasibility of such services.

 

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is currently witnessing unprecedented development and a quantitative leap in all its health services and facilities, which entirely aim to maintain patients' health and gain their satisfaction; given that the MOH has carried out many programs for serving patients, and achieving the MOH's slogan: “Patient First”. Also, the Ministry currently provides massive investments to serve the Saudi citizen.

 

It is worth mentioning that the MOH witnesses a wide range of developmental projects, being currently implemented, put forward and approved in MOH’s budget. These projects include construction and development of medical cities, private and general hospitals, and medical towers; given that, such projects are existent all over the regions and governorates of the Kingdom and will contribute, Allah willing, to upgrading the level of health services.

 

The Ministry of Health (MOH) would like to express its deep thanks and gratitude for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, due to the allocation of SR 15.1 billion for constructing 22 health projects, comprising 19 medical complexes and hospitals, and 3 centers for children's behavioral and growth disorders, the first of their kind to be establish in the Kingdom, offering a high-standard level of care and treatment for patients suffering from Autism and Hyperactivity.
 
In the same vein, the MOH lauds the decision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of expropriating a range of parcels for constructing some health projects on them as well as his approval of adopting a range of developmental projects for MOH facilities.

 

 

- Approval of allocating SR 1.000.000.000 to the project (requirements with regard to construction of primary health care centers) that was listed in the Ministry’s budget to buy lands for primary healthcare centers.

 

 Strategic Plan:
The Ministry of Health has launched its ten-year strategic plan (1431-1440H/2010-2020) under the slogan: “Patient First”, after taking a closer look at reality, and identifying the shortcomings and failings of the health system, with the aim of developing this system and raising the quality level of the health services provided by the Ministry to the level adopted by the advanced countries.

 

The Ministry's strategic plan seeks to enact the approach of the integrated and comprehensive health care, with particular emphasis on the practical aspect. One of the objectives assigned to this plan, also, is to entrench the culture of institutional work, enhance quality, measure and oversee performance, and attract highly qualified cadres. That's to be added to the development of human resources, and e-health and information systems. It targets, besides, maintaining the optimal exploitation of resources and applying the economies of health care and its ways of finance.

 

Five Integrated Referential Medical Cities:
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has embarked on establishing a number of medical cities in some regions, which reiterates the right pursuits adopted by the Leaders of our beloved country, to maintain people's health and safety, and provide health care for them. These medical cities are reckoned a precious addition to the system of health services; given that, these cities will provide fourth-degree services. It is worth mentioning that the construction of these cities will be associated with the population density, and professional quality standards, which relate to the level of health care rendered. Once these cities are established, the number of referential beds is expected to reach 6200 beds.

 

The projects related to medical cities include the expansion of King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh (offering its services to the Central Region), King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah (offering its services to the Western Region), King Faisal Medical City (offering its services to the Southern Region), King Mohammed bin Abdulaziz City (offering its services to the Northern Region), and King Khaled Medical City (offering its services to the Eastern Region). Each of these medical cities comprises a set of specialty hospitals, in addition to centers specialized in oncology, neurology, serious cardiac surgeries, radiotherapy, organ transplantation, and ophthalmology, among many other specialties. The establishment of such cities comes as part of implementing the Integrated and Comprehensive Health Care National Project. Also, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has recently signed contracts for supervising the establishment of these cities.

 

Due to the financial and administrative independence of these medical cities and specialty hospitals, the Ministry has been keen to provide the administrative environment appropriate for regulating the workflow, and making optimal use of their potentials and capabilities. That's to be carried out by way of a unified board of directors, under the leadership of His Excellency the Minister of Health, and in cooperation with the relevant ministries, in order for this board to be the only governing authority which drives the work of these cities and hospitals towards the sought destination. The board has already made significant achievements, including, but not limited to, the unification and accreditation of regulations and laws.

 

The health services provided in the Kingdom of Humanity (Saudi Arabia) have witnessed a leap in its developmental march over the past few years. The Ministry of Health has introduced new and first-of-its-kind programs with a view to serving citizens and improving the Ministry's performance, quality and safety; as well as restructuring collective and institutional work and attracting distinguished cadres. Such pivotal developments went in line with creating and developing several departments. The MOH Public Relations and Health Awareness General Department plays a pivotal role to implement the principle of transparency adopted by the MOH with the aim of communicating with patients and holding partnership with citizens.

 

 

Patient Relations Program:
This program is considered a link between the Ministry of Health and citizens. It was created upon the desire of the Ministry of Health to reinforce and develop the communication process with the beneficiaries of its services in all MOH facilities through solving their problems and facilitating the process of obtaining the proper health services, which they need. It also helps survey the citizens with regard to the level of health services, which they obtain from the health facilities; in order to avoid any negative aspects or obstacles that may occur. It is for this very reason that the program was created.

 

One of the tasks of the program is planning to develop the interaction mechanisms with the heath facilities' frequenters, namely, the patients and their relatives, which give them the opportunity to opine and make notes about the health services provided to them. Also, it is to prepare and develop policies and procedures of the work related to patient relations, and the mechanisms of handling the patients' complaints; and their notes, with the aim of getting rid of all factors leading to the dissatisfaction of patients and their relatives. The program also aims to perform technical supervision on the works of patient relations departments at the health affairs directorates, in the health regions and facilities affiliated to the Ministry of Health and the private health sector, and to study patients' complaints referred to the program as well as the notes submitted by the patient relations departments in the regions, and to work on solving them in coordination with the relevant bodies according to the approved procedures. In addition, the program endeavors to conduct statistical researches and studies which are concerned with measuring to what extent the patients and their relatives are satisfied about the health services, in cooperation with the Research General Department. The program is also to participate in all aspects related to the patient relations in terms of committees, forums, and meetings at the Ministry. It is noteworthy that there are (1200) employees in all MOH hospitals working for this program. A toll-free number was introduced to receive the patients' complaints as well as a website for receiving their opinions; in addition to providing suggestion boxes at hospitals.

 

This program supports the efforts of obtaining a bed for the patient in emergency and routine cases, as well as the optimal use of the available resources, and coordination to receive and refer cases, and to evaluate the results of the program work, and the need to increase the number of beds.

 

The program was initiated on 3/4/1430H (corresponding to 30/3/2009), and it covers MOH hospitals with the capacity of 100 beds or more. A department supervising the Bed Management Program was introduced in all the Kingdom's health affairs directorates. It is supervised by one of the physicians with relevant expertise in such a field.

 

Also, a department coordinating the referral of cases was introduced at the Ministry of Health, working 24 hours a day. Also, there are twenty emergency departments linked to the coordination department in all the directorates of the Kingdom's regions, which are tasked to find a bed for the patient in any of the Kingdom's health sectors. In addition, a new department was introduced to support the peripheral regions and hospitals inside the kingdom with the necessary experts specialized in the running visits system in all the medical specialties, so that the physicians can move to such regions and hospitals to perform the necessary medical procedures rather than having the patient moved to them. This department will also give powers for all health affairs directors to refer the patients in emergency cases to the private sector at the expense of the Ministry of Health, and hire beds for the chronic cases to reduce the costs of treatment.

 

The Ministry has introduced the Day Surgery Program in all MOH 100-bed hospitals, as the proportion of MOH hospitals, with the capacity of 100 beds or more, that have participated in the Day Surgery Program, has reached 92%; and the number of day surgeries conducted has reached (135000) operations in more than (100) hospitals applying such a program. In addition, the bed usage has increased from (4,2) times during the month to (5,7) times, and this is equivalent to a 30% increase in the bed usage efficiency. Also, the average period of hospitalization has reduced from (4,1) days to (3,5) days, thus saving about (12,5) of days. Currently, more than (800) employees are working for the program, and they are distributed throughout the Ministry's hospitals. Thanks to applying such a program, (338) beds, that were not available in 1431h, has been re-operated, and the program also contributed to referring (1957) patients, suffering from chronic diseases and those who are hospitalized at hospitals, to the Home Medicine Program.

 

The proportion of day surgeries has increased from 2% in 1430H to 38% this year, through which the patients have been served in addition to reducing waiting periods. Currently, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is studying the proportion of bed numbers compared to the population number in all the Kingdom's regions; to reach a national rate of (3 beds for each 1000 persons), and to apply this ration in all the Kingdom's regions over the next five years.

 

Home Medicine Program:
Home medicine is complementary to the traditional medicine provided by hospitals but not an alternative for it. In other words, such a program aims to provide the attainable, luxurious home health care services, and enhance the contribution of patients' families to following up their patients during their recovering period, in a way that maintains their dignity without troubles, and leads to provide the hospital beds for new patients, who need them badly.

 

One of the program's tasks is to provide the medical care for the patients at their homes according to the treatment plan of the medical team qualified for such a service, and to assist the patients' families with regard to how to deal with their patients. The medical team will pay visits periodically to the patients designated for such a service (such as the patients who need recreational or respiratory care, diabetic patients, clinical ulcer patients, or patients who need tube feeding; or suffer from nervous system and strokes).

 

Furthermore, the program is keen to provide supportive medical equipment and supplies according to the case, and present the health support, assistance, and health education to the patient and his family. Such tasks are performed according to specific work mechanism and jobs for the medical teams, and according to the standards applied in the local and global health centers.

 

So far, the number of those who benefit from the program has reached (25000) patients, and the total number of the hospitals applying the program is (138) hospitals throughout the Kingdom's regions. The program serves patients with chronic diseases, strokes and paralysis, mental and neurological disorders, as well as aging diseases.

 

Furthermore, (216) mobile medical teams have been prepared; including physicians, nurses, and specialists; given that the number of those working for such a service has reached (940) employee.

 

Medical Team Follow-up Program: 

The Medical Team Follow-up Program is made up of a team of physicians, visiting hospitals to follow up the performance of the medical teams, in terms of the physicians' productivity, postpone of the patients' operations; avoidance of any delay in rendering medications, or admission of patients, or failure of the equipments; and care of newborn babies. The medical team also verifies that the hospital is properly performing its duty, detects medical errors and approves the hospitals. To that end, the Ministry will apply the global standards to all the hospitals for approval; and by the end of current year, the MOH will approve some more hospitals - Allah willing.

 

Visiting Doctor Program:
The program aims at covering the shortage in the rare subspecialties, reinforcing the health care services provided for citizens where they live, and putting an end to the difficulties which some patients suffer from when frequenting to the central hospitals. This is carried out through recruiting distinctive constellations of international and local consulting physicians, holding international qualifications; in order to work at a number of the Ministry's hospitals in the Kingdom's various regions in light of the difficulty and restriction of signing permanent contracts, at the moment, with consulting physicians in some specialties for their scarcity.

 

The program has worked on recruiting the consulting physicians depending on two main pivots: first, the Saudi visiting consulting physicians. The program has made successes in recruiting distinctive constellations of Saudi consulting physicians, and it has enabled to benefit from the local expertise in providing the health services which the citizens need at their homes.

 

Secondly, the foreign visiting consulting physicians from outside the Kingdom. The number of those recruited to work temporarily has reached (2323) consulting physicians, who have been distributed to more than (50) cities in the Kingdom during the last year.

 

Services Buying Program:
Due to the interest of MOH to serve the patient and provide the integrated and comprehensive health care for him especially the services of emergency and intensive care, amount of SR 718 million were paid during the last year to buy services in the private sector.

 

The project aims at encouraging the women aging 45 years (and over) to detect breast cancer earlier, and to raise the proportion of detecting cases in their early stages. This project is to be applied in Riyadh as a first phase. It targets 10 thousand women; and it will be applied in all the Kingdom's regions in the second phase to become a national program covering all the Kingdom's women.

 

Medical Records Development Project:
The Ministry has worked on setting measures and policies to deal with patients' medical records and to raise the performance level. The development of measures and policies has ended with regard to developing the patients' medical file and unifying its structure and contents at all MOH facilities, with unifying the medical models and setting the policies and procedures in terms of how to deal with them included. In addition, the Ministry has adopted the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to make the names of diseases and the protocols governing dealing with them unified at all the Ministry's facilities, in line with the globally approved and applied standards.

 

During such a prosperous, auspicious reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, May Allah protect him, several health projects of specialized medical cities, hospitals, and medical towers and centers have been operated, covering all the Kingdom's regions and provinces. The delivered projects include (20) diabetes centers and (20) dental centers throughout the entire Kingdom's regions. In addition, 11 regional laboratories and blood banks have been accomplished and delivered. Furthermore, 74 hospitals have been operated, with a bed capacity of (7402) over the past seven years, and the total number of the Ministry's hospitals, currently, has reached 259 hospitals, with a total bed capacity of 35858 beds.

 

Projects under Construction:
There are 50 hospitals and medical buildings are almost finished with a capacity of 7225 beds, including 21 hospitals under construction with a capacity of 2940 beds, as well as 60 hospitals to be put forward and delivered with a capacity of 10915 beds. There are also 125 hospitals and 5 medical cities under construction with a capacity of 5200 beds and at a cost of SR 16 billion. Furthermore, there are 29 specialist centers under construction. The number of beds will double up to 68818 beds in 1440H.

 

Projects of Primary Healthcare Centers:
The Ministry has operated 751 new primary healthcare centers, and underway is the establishing of 104 health centers. Moreover, the Ministry endeavors to put forward and deliver 816 centers. The total number of health centers throughout the Kingdom is 2259 health centers.

 

Manpower and Training:
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has signed a number of agreements with the specialized institutions to train its employees, such as the General Department and Health Affairs Institute at the National Guard, as well as King Saud University for Health Sciences and the Saudi Heart Association.

 

The Ministry, emanating from its keen interest in the development of manpower programs, the MOH Training Center was created, and an independent program for leadership development was approved. The number of those who received training in 1433H was 140000 trainees of both genders, trained on all specialties and disciplines. Besides, about 600 physicians and nurses have been trained on how to improve the treatment of patients.

 

Moving on to external scholarships and internal missions, it should be noted that the total number of those currently on scholarships is 2898. The Ministry was keen also to rise the mission opportunities to about 30%, thus allowing the greater bulk of MOH employees to benefit from such opportunities.

 

Quality Assurance:
In their quest for providing high-quality health services, 51 hospitals have been accredited by the Central Board for Accreditation of Health Institutions. And there are 40 hospitals being prepared for the accreditation. In the same vein, 13 hospitals and 4 health centers have been accredited by the American Hospital Council. The Ministry of Health has also contracted with the American Hospital Council to evaluate other 22 hospitals. The Ministry, in addition, is working on preparing all regional laboratories for local evaluation, as well as 100 health centers for accreditation.

 

Preventive Medicine:
The Ministry of Health, represented by the Public Health Agency, has introduced departments specialized in the monitoring and surveillance of infectious and parasitic diseases, and preventing the emergence of the triggers of such diseases. These departments are: Infectious Diseases Department, Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Department, AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Program, vendor control departments, the departments of malaria, schistosomiasis and leishmaniasis, as well as the Portal Health Control Program to monitor the health situation of expiates.

 

The Ministry has set comprehensive health programs to achieve its preventive objectives; such as Expanded Immunization Program, Epidemiological Surveillance Program, Hajj Preventive Medicine Program, and Joint Diseases Control Program. Furthermore, the number of the diseases targeted by expanded immunization vaccines, in the Kingdom in 1434H, reached 15 diseases compared to 5 diseases in 1399H, whereas the proportion of immunization reached 98% of the basic vaccines, leading to a major reduction in the rates of the targeted diseases in this program.

 

In addition, the Ministry of Health pays close attention to the immunization program since its inauguration, and the Kingdom, may Allah protect it, has supported such an attitude, as evident in the fact that in 1399H (corresponding to 1979) the King's approval of linking the babies' birth certificate to a list of the targeted diseases that are to be immunized against was issued. And in 1991 the unification of the expanded immunization list took place in the entire health sector (both governmental and private).

 

The immunization program kept on developing and coping with all the latest in the field of vaccines, as in 2002 the integrated vaccines were used through the usage of bacterial quadruple vaccine with the goal to reduce the number of syringes administered. And the program leapfrogged during the last three years, as hepatitis (A), chickenpox, and streptococcus vaccines were introduced, in addition to meningitis vaccine.

 

The Kingdom has entered into the phase of eradicating the measles, German measles (Rubella), and mumps. In the beginning of the current academic year, 1432H, the Ministry has launched a comprehensive vaccination campaign against the measles, rubella, and mumps for 9 months to 24 years age group, and such a procedure will continue in the next years, Allah willing; in the hope that such diseases will be eradicated from the Kingdom by 2015.

 

 

Saudi Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
The government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, represented by the Ministry of Health, takes serious steps to establish the Saudi Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Saudi CDC) under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health; which will play a vital, and major role in controlling and monitoring the diseases, following in the footsteps of the distinctive role played by centers for disease control and prevention of Atlanta in the U.S., and this is among the health services system of the US Health and Human Services Department.

 

And such a center is to contribute greatly to serving the gulf and Arabian health concern, especially monitoring viruses and controlling the diseases in GCC states. Hence, the Saudi Center for Disease Control and Prevention is a serious boost in the march of the joint gulf work.

 

The importance of such a referential and specialized center  is emanated from the preventive health services presented in the field of disease monitoring and controlling such as (scientific) International Health Center, Health and Occupational Safety Center, Immunization and Respiratory System Diseases Center, Joint and Emerging Diseases Center, a Center for Human Immunodeficiency; Hepatitis Viruses, Sexually-Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis Prevention, Non-infectious Diseases, Injuries, and Environmental Health Monitoring Units, and Birth Defects and Development Disabilities Center.

 

Such a center aims at realizing the health goals related to the national policies and strategies for each state, raising and developing the capacities of those working at the health centers and laboratories, providing the health information bank and the technologies related to that. It also aims at early preparing and addressing of the diseases and outbreaks when emerging, gaining the abilities and opportunities to recognize what is discovered of new organisms causing diseases; and tackling them, and conducting researches to benefit from that in many aspects such as developing vaccines and others, and presenting consultations to other states (at the regional and international levels).

 

Information Technology and Communications:
As part of the strategic plan of the electronic health, the Ministry of Health is currently working on building and developing an integrated, and consistent package of technical and administrative programs in the field of health technology and information systems and electronic health, which aims at developing the health services performance, and providing comprehensive, and integrated health electronic systems and environment of a high quality. Besides, the Ministry is currently working on implementing a plan to prepare the information technology infrastructure and the electronic health with all its facilities, and another plan for medical referral system, in addition to one more plan on developing and automating the administrative and financial system of the Ministry. Also, the Ministry is working on a plan for developing medical provision systems and the medical equipments of the Ministry; and the directorates affiliated to it, and the great expansion for the scholarship programs, and the technical and administrative cadres training.

 

Furthermore, the Ministry has accomplished linking most of the its hospitals to an electronic system to register and follow up the serious medical incidents, which take place in hospitals within up to 48 hours; and the steps of linking the private sector hospitals will take place in the forthcoming period. Also, it has ended of designing a unified system of multi-media communications, allowing the user to receive the coming audio and visual messages and fax at their email or their cell-phones. The Ministry's 150.000 employees will be linked in the first phase. In addition to this, the Ministry has ended of introducing a system to gauge and register automatically the patient's satisfaction about the services rendered to them in hospitals, and it will be applied through the Patient Relations Department within the months to come.

 

During the past period, two wireless communication networks have been set for Riyadh and the Western Region. They are made up of (300) ambulance cars, (300) manual equipments, (30) equipment for emergency rooms, (10) relay stations, and (4) command and control centers.

 

- The Epidemiological Surveillance System:
It was implemented during the 1430H Hajj season, and it aims at developing and installing the field survey system through using the mobile devices and electronic Field Epidemiology Program.

 

- Pre-marital Screening System:
This system aims at providing pre-marital examination services electronically. Delivering such a service, tabulating appointments electronically, and using electronic fingerprinting are carried out via such a portal to document the candidate's data, as the latest technology available in such a field. Also, the other relevant governmental bodies with such a portal will be linked in the second phase. The system also aims at automating soon-to-be marriage examination procedures to detect any disorder for a characteristic of some genetic blood diseases. This is intended to provide the medical counseling about the odds of transmitting such diseases to either marriage partner or their offspring in the future, and to give choices and alternatives for the fiancé and fiancée with the aim of helping them plan for a healthy family.

 

- Newborns Protection System (First Phase):
This system aims at applying neonatal protection system in 115 obstetrics and gynecology hospitals, and currently the final tests are being conducted to them.

 

- Finding System for Missed Pilgrims Services (Ijad):
The Finding System for Missed Pilgrims Services (Ijad) aims at helping the pilgrims and officials at Tawaf (circumambulation) institutions and Hajj campaigns inform about the missed people while performing the Hajj rituals, and searching for them in all the hospitals located in the places where the rituals are performed; along with notifying those who have reported the missed cases when their notifications match with the information of the persons who have been reported as missed via the cell-phone or email.

 

- Visiting Manpower Service during Hajj:
This service enables those who would like to join to the Visiting Manpower Program during Hajj season to submit the employment applications electronically without the need to go personally to the Ministry. Applications will be received during specific months every year.

 

- Bed Management Medical E-Project
This project aims at facilitating the access to the information related to the beds and patients, bed requests and specializations management in an efficient, effective way; in addition to managing one-day and routine surgeries to facilitate work and reduce the effort. Furthermore, such a project helps obtain the most accurate reports and statistics on the medical beds.

 

- Electronic Medical Reports System:
Electronic Medical Reports System aims at developing the sending system of the medical reports of the foreign labor to the Passports General Directorate electronically, as it enables the health facilities to input the medical reports electronically and send them to the bodies concerned with the results of the reports such as passports.

 

- Poison Control Project (Awtar) / First Phase:
This project aims at linking all the poison control centers in the Kingdom to a central electronic system, and the system provides a number of electronic services specialized in poison control field for the Ministry's employees, and those dealing with it.

 

- Health Information System (HIS):
The project aims at providing 59 MOH hospitals with new measures based upon health information system containing all the basic jobs. And it includes the registration, tabulation, patients' medical data summaries, and laboratory and examination, x-ray and pharmacology unit results, in addition to ambulatory care clinics results. The system has been applied in 59 hospitals.

 

- Critical Error Registration System
Critical Error Registration System aims at developing critical errors system, through which the critical errors taking place at hospitals are registered, such as: (child-abduction, errors in blood transfusion, etc.), and reporting such errors to the MOH officials via SMS. This electronic system has been created to register and follow up the serious medical errors taking place at hospitals within up to 48 hours, and notify the officials immediately once the error occurs, with the aim to take the necessary actions.

 

- Hajj and Umrah Drivers Examination Program (Yaqiz):
A specialized database, dubbed “Yaqiz” (attentive), has been launched at the MOH Portal containing the results of pilgrim bus drivers' examination. It aims at providing a database containing the names of the bus drivers, whose positive examination results have shown that they are taking one or some kinds of drugs, and upload it on the internet to facilitate the speedy access of information to the relevant bodies to take the appropriate actions. In addition, the database is considered a source for the poison centers' works in both Makkah and Medinah, which aims at making sure that the bus drivers do not take any drug or doping substances, and who transport the Hajj pilgrims.

 

Currently, (11) programs are being implemented to serve patients. They are: X-ray Images E-Archiving System in 22 hospitals, Blood Banks Automatic System, Communicative Medicine System, Medical Licensing Services, Epidemiological and Infectious Diseases Prevention System (Panorama), Newborns Protection System (RFID) (second phase), Health Information System (HIS) for the rest of hospitals, E-Health Marketing and Communication Project, Patient Questionnaires, Citizen's Voice, and Poison Control System Project (Awtar) - second phase.

 

- Referral Program “My Referral”:
The Referral Program aims to refer the cases among the hospitals of the Kingdom in a fast, clear and transparent manner, after being experienced in three regions in the Kingdom and proving success with regards to the service of the patients and development of the transport process; given that, the e-program of this project has finished.

 

The project works on referring the patient electronically from a region to another, or from a hospital to another without any delay, through coordination between hospitals affiliated to the Ministry of Health.

It is worth mentioning that this project is considered a national one that will benefit all sectors of health; as it ensures that the work is completed in an electronic, fast and clear manner for all.

 

The Ministry is currently working, by leaps and bounds, on preparing the equipments of this project, and training the personnel on the project; given that, the program will be implemented in 3 stages, and will work as a self-operating system. It's expected for this program to be completed during a year and a half from now.

 

The e-program is considered integrated to transfer patients who need to be referred to large hospitals, in order to ensure the transfer of patients with high professionalism and without requesting or begging for obtaining this service.

 

The “Referral E-Program” endeavors to facilitate the process of referring patients who need to be treated in specialized hospitals in any city in the Kingdom; knowing that, it will serve to connect all governmental hospitals to all health facilities indoors, instead of the previous procedure, in which the process of referring patients from a hospital to another was conducted by the General Medical Committee in the region or the city.

 

Work Development at Emergency Departments of Hospitals:
The Ministry has paid close attention to work development at emergency departments, as it has set up a technical committee to set the code of work policies and procedures at such departments. Code-setting has ended, in addition to creating a mechanism to transport the ambulatory, critical cases among health facilities. Besides, it includes setting up an office to coordinate the referral of emergent cases at Emergency Department of health affairs directorates in the regions and governorates, which in turn is linked to the main coordination office of the MOH Emergency General Department.  And the system includes how to deal with the cases, admit them, and refer them to the health facility where the treatment is available, including private sector hospitals; according to specific regulations that guarantee the provision of the medical service as fast as required and in the proper place.

 

Meanwhile, (600) new ambulances have been delivered during the past two years as a first phase, and (300) ambulances this year as a second phase; to bring the total of the new ambulances to (900) ones.

 

 Medical Supply and Equipment:
The Ministry of Health has developed the information centers of medicines and poisons, and has provided them with the internationally-accredited programs to cope with   the development of health services, as such centers have been provided with (Micromedex) program, in addition to preparing a project to develop pharmacological services through preparing the intravenous nutrition and solutions using the highest standards and safety.

 

Also, the Ministry has made a comprehensive review for the MOH Drug Formulary, and all the much-needed medicines for emergency and intensive care have been provided to be a ready-to-use dose (and ready-to-use syringes), in addition to providing all the important items and making sure of  achieving the quality associated with the best price.

 

In addition to this, the Ministry has completed the infrastructure in order to establish the main warehouses of the medical supply in the hospitals existing in the peripheral regions and governorates to achieve medicinal security and to raise the accommodation capacity. A full study has been conducted to establish new model warehouses built in line with the high specifications.

 

Meanwhile, establishing (29) warehouses has started in the first phase, and (100) warehouses will be built, Allah willing, in the second phase. Also, an agreement has been reached with the majority of companies and suppliers to the effect that they will replace all the expired medicines and those soon-to-be expired with medicines having new expiry date. Thus, a great deal of waste has been stopped by damaging these items.

 

As for the medical and non-medical equipment for medical facilities, the offered specifications of the medical equipment have been advanced in way that makes the specification general (Generic Specification) for the equipment and with the highest global measures. And this includes all the global manufactured companies, provides all the regions with such specifications, and saves them via the computerized system. In addition to this, the standards of securing the medical equipment and obtaining the best equipment have been raised, and the guarantee period has been raised to become five years rather than two years as it formerly was. Last but not least, the tenders and bids have been reviewed and the Ministry has obtained medicine-price reduction by 20% of the prices offered two years ago. Therefore, hundreds of millions have been saved through activating such an important step.

 

The health indicators are used a lot to make comparisons between the current health status and the aspired goal. Statistics have shown that the total number of patients' visits for MOH primary healthcare centers in the last year reached 55 million visits, while the patients' visits to the MOH hospitals reached 11, 4 million visits. As such, this brings the visits total to clinics and centers to 66 million visits.

In addition to this, the total number of  the hospitalized cases at MOH hospitals in 1432H reached 1.7 million cases, and the number of the surgical operations undergone in these hospitals in 1432H was 450.000 operations, and the total of birth cases that took place at MOH hospitals over this year reached (262.690) cases.

 

 

Total number of oncology centers: 8 centers​

 

 

 

 

That's be added to 4 constructed dental centers in (Dammam, Madinah, Najran, Al Jouf), as well as 3 centers under construction in (Tabuk, Qassim, Al-Baha).