Lack of Doctors; Hospital shut

Al Dhaid hospital was one of Sharjah’s favorites’, until the doors of its outpatient department closed earlier this week because it lacked the doctors and medical personnel to maintain operation or flow. The department had only one physician, as four others resigned earlier this year. Hospital administrators decided it was not possible to keep up with the patient load, said Dr Salama Saeed, the hospital's administrative director. "The outpatient department was working only the morning shift, and we had communicated to authorities the necessity of expanding working hours to evening or a full day," she said. "They have been promising us since August 2008 that they would be expanding it to full time, but nothing has happened so far. Now, with four doctors resigning, even the morning shift was unsustainable." There have been no official statements as to why so many doctors were resigning; however, according to the Federal National Council medical committee; as they made various visits to all government hospitals in the Northern Emirates, it was found that most of these resignations were brought on by low wages. Doctors, nurses, technicians and administrative staff had left government health facilities in droves to join private hospitals, which offered more attractive salary packages, the committee's report said.