ABU DHABI // More than four in five of Abu Dhabi’s 41 hospitals, health centres and clinics hit patient waiting-time targets last year.
Guidelines set by health chiefs require primary-care patients to be given an appointment within 48 hours. Accident and emergency patients should be seen within an hour and treated, discharged or transferred within two hours.
The number of primary-care patients seen within the target time rose from 88 per cent in October 2014 to 98 per cent last year. The number of emergency patients seen within an hour increased from 85 per cent to 97 per cent.
Those who met the third target rose from 60 per cent to 70 per cent. In comparison, figures last November from the UK’s National Health Service show that 91.3 per cent of accident and emergency patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, below its target of 95 per cent.
Overall, 34 Abu Dhabi healthcare facilities met the targets and the remaining seven have been ordered to produce action plans showing how they propose to do so in the future.
“These hospitals have been given time to rectify their performance,” said Dr Omar Najim, quality adviser at the Health Authority Abu Dhabi.
The Health Authority Abu Dhabi launched the Jawda – Arabic for quality – initiative in September 2014, setting targets to improve the standards of service. Dr Asma Al Mannaei, director of strategy at the authority, said many healthcare providers were sceptical and anxious about Jawda when it was launched, but their fears had been unfounded.
“They were scared and wanted to get the numbers right,” she said. “We are not concerned about the numbers on the sheets but their plans to improve these numbers.
“We would like to meet the expectations of our customers on waiting time. Though these don’t have a direct link to the case, this affects the patient.”
Dr Najim said the hospitals that met the targets had done so by changes in management systems and processes, employing a quality officer and through “clean lines of communication and collaboration”.
“We set up an online system of communication and every six months we had a one-to-one meeting with the quality officer and the chief executive,” he said.
Other quality indicators established by Jawda include procedures to make sure the correct patients and body parts were treated, reducing surgical site infections in hospitals and better checks to see if the patient needed to be admitted again after surgery. The outcomes of these have not yet been published.
According to a patient satisfaction survey by the health authority last year, quality of care, communication and prompt service were the top three priorities for patients.
Dr Nabil Debouni, medical director at the private Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, said the hospital saw more than 2,000 patients a day and staff tried to minimise waiting time.
“We try to give the appointment on the day requested. Patients who try to see a physician who is booked on a particular day, we ask them to come without an appointment.”
About 20 per cent of patients do not appear for their appointments. The hospital fills these gaps by giving them to walk-ins. Private hospitals are open from early in the morning until 11pm.
“The numbers look like there is improvement, but private hospitals are different from government hospitals,” Dr Debouni said.
“Emergency services can do with improvement.”
arizvi2@thenational.ae
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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