Physicians scoff at move to cap numbers

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Overseas staff bring badly needed expertise to Saudi’s healthcare system that cannot yet be substituted by national physicians. (Getty Images)

Expatriate doctors in Saudi Arabia have scoffed at government plans to boost saudiisation by introducing a contract cap for overseas doctors.

Physicians polled by Medical Times said the Ministry of Health (MoH) is unlikely to push ahead with the ruling, arguing the move would wipe out the country's upper-tier of clinical expertise.

"[The government] would not implement a law without carefully considering the availability of the services they are losing," said Dr Ianny Kornfield, a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh.

"It should be everyone's goal to have their own people working in healthcare... but these doctors are supplying an expertise that is currently lacking."

The MoH has said it will terminate the contracts of foreign doctors who have practised in the country for 20 years or more, to help reestablish a balance of Saudi doctors. The decision is expected to affect an estimated 15% of the health service's expatriate workforce.

Previous attempts to ramp up the percentage of national doctors stalled when the Ministry struggled to source homegrown doctors to replace expatriate employees.

"There are very few nationals who can replace these medical staff," argued an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant, who asked not to be named. "Saudi certainly hasn't reached the stage where it can expel experienced people."

South African Dr Dee McCormack, a consultant perinatologist formerly employed at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, branded the move "an attempt to pacify Saudi doctors".

Current saudiisation efforts have already increased the turnover of overseas doctors, she claimed.

"Many became very fed up with deteriorating standards [as] people were pushed into jobs for which they were not qualified," she said.

McCormack believes the government should focus on improved training to nationalise the healthcare service, rather than fixed employee quotas.

"Saudi must train its own people and stop relying on foreigners for expertise that is within its reach, with the right training," she said.

"It is reasonable to employ foreigners on fixed term contracts, [but] once Saudi gets a bad name, it will be very difficult to attract people when needed."

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