Middle East News - Kuwait: Govt to make liability insurance mandatory
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Mar 2016
The Council of Ministers has directed the Minister of Health Ali Al-Obeidy to introduce mandatory liability insurance for the healthcare sector.
The Cabinet decision will apply to all disciplines including the medical and dental professions, according to local media reports.
Dr Al-Obeidy said his ministry had forwarded the draft patients’ rights law, which includes a provision for insurance against medical errors, to the Council of Ministers for study.
Debate over professional liability insurance has intensified in Kuwait following the death of a Kuwaiti citizen last year in a government hospital due to a medical error. Investigations revealed that the doctor who committed the error was an expatriate who was registered under the “Under Training” category of medical personnel and did not have the necessary licence to perform the surgery or even practise in Kuwait.
The Health Ministry subsequently announced that it would implement a comprehensive system to tackle all medical mistakes that contribute to a hospital patient’s death and health problems. It added that any medical mistakes that lead to a patient’s death or any in-hospital complications will be referred to a special committee for investigations, the result of which will be submitted to the hospital director and the Health Ministry. An independent legal committee will be formed to take legal actions against those responsible for any mistake.
The Health Ministry is also following WHO recommendations to protect the rights of patients and to limit any medical mistakes or negligence, it added.