The Minister of Health Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed, met the head of the Association of Ophthalmologists, in the presence of the Undersecretary of the Ministry, Dr. Mustafa Reda, and Chairman of the Board of Ophthalmology Departments, Dr. Ahmed Al-Foudari, within the framework of periodic meetings with medical personnel with the aim of enhancing ways to improve the health service, and identifying the challenges they face, and ways to overcome them.
The Ministry of Health said, in a press statement, that the meeting dealt with a review of the most prominent challenges facing ophthalmologists, and submitted proposals to overcome them, reports a local Arabic daily.
Health sources indicated the Minister of Health gave a number of directions to improve the service and facilitate the visitors, the most prominent of which included the necessity of coordination between departments and the head of departments about their needs in a timely manner.
The ministry added, “The directives also include ways to reducing the waiting period for visitors snd distributing medical professionals to eye departments in a fair manner, as well as the need to expand the procedures for meticulous operations in eye departments in public hospitals, to reduce pressure on the Al Bahar Eye Center, and for the ease and speed of citizens’ access to appointments.
The sources indicated that Minister Al-Saeed listened to the proposals of the Association of Ophthalmologists regarding the challenges they face, their causes, and proposed solutions, as well as clarifying some aspects to improve the health service in the field of ophthalmology.
On the other hand, Dr Al-Saeed met with the representatives of the training programs at the Kuwait Institute for Medical Specializations (KIMS).
During the meeting, many points were raised regarding overcoming the difficulties they may face in hospitals, specialized centers, or primary health care centers and challenges related to medical education.
The Ministry of Health stated Minister Al-Saeed confirmed during the meeting that training programs are among the pillars of the health care system, and that the prime motive of the meeting was to listen carefully to the difficulties they face, and to listen to the proposed solutions, stressing that the ministry will spare no efforts in studying them and doing everything that is in the interest of improving the health service of the public.
The ministry explained the Minister of Health also stressed on the importance of having national competencies in the delicate medical specialties, while at the same time stressing on the need to pay attention to general specialties, as this is considered functional and noticeably required in most countries of the world.
The sources added that the minister stressed on the ministry’s keenness to encourage national competencies, and reduce the need to bring in medical cadres from abroad.
In the context of supporting the demands and rights of doctors who are members of the “board” training programs, and in view of the exceptional circumstances during the Corona crisis, sources said Minister Al-Saeed has agreed that those affiliated with the training programs at KIMS not to take into account the 2020 academic year.
The sources added that the meeting touched on Minister Al-Saeed’s assertion that doctors and various medical cadres are a human resource, stressing on the state’s keenness to provide an appropriate work environment, overcoming the obstacles they face, providing the best training opportunities for national medical cadres, and opening new horizons for them in keeping with the latest global developments in this regard.