Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah said the institutional transformation is allowing his ministry to focus its efforts on regulating and supervising the sector rather than providing and financing the services.
He added that care services are being provided through health centers and include primary care centers, hospitals, medical towns and specialized hospitals, reducing waiting time and enabling health facilities to take decisions faster.
“The budget includes many projects that will contribute to a remarkable growth and improvement in the health facilities and services across the Kingdom,” Rabiah noted.
He explained that 150 indicators have been implemented to improve performance through the implementation of the health performance program. The average waiting time for appointments in clinics has been reduced from 59 days to 24.7 days.
The rate of patients waiting less than 4 hours in emergencies has improved from 36 percent to 88 percent, and the average number of days patients sleep in intensive care units has been reduced from 6.7 days to 5.6 days, corresponding to 16 percent additional beds in the unit.
Rabiah added that there are 19 mega health projects, including hospitals and medical towers, that are ready for operation and will be inaugurated during 2018 and 2019 in a number of regions and provinces in the Kingdom.
These projects, according to the Minister, will represent a distinctive addition to the health services system and will contribute to the improvement of these services and push forward the course of health work in the country.
Minister of Housing Majed al-Hoqail, for his part, said his ministry has started building 42 new housing projects in various regions of the Kingdom this year.
While Minister of Education Ahmed al-Issa said, “We have a project to create 600 educational buildings to dispose of rented premises.”
“We seek to make the recruitment of domestic workers from neighboring countries,” commented Minister of Labor Ahmed al-Rajhi, adding that the ministry has launched 12 new business activities during 2018.
