Specialized Clinics: A Successful Concept at Health Centers

The Ministry of Health has succeeded in expanding specialized clinics within health centers affiliated with primary health care, a move that has significantly reduced patient numbers at hospitals across Kuwait’s various health regions. We now see, for example, chronic disease clinics operating as specialized units focused on monitoring patients with hypertension, diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol, and thyroid disorders. Thanks to these clinics, the pressure on internal medicine clinics in hospitals has been alleviated. Similarly, dental clinics have proven successful in their round-the-clock operations at various health centers, also helping to ease the burden on hospital dental emergency departments.

We urge the Ministry of Health to increase the number of other specialized clinics, such as orthopedics, otolaryngology (ENT), ophthalmology, and general surgery, in all health centers to better serve patients. It should be noted that some specialized clinics in hospitals, such as ophthalmology and ENT, although located within emergency departments, do not accept any patients without a medical referral, despite the absence of such specialties operating around the clock in primary care centers.

We suggest that, just as the Ministry succeeded in establishing dental clinics, it should also strive to create specialized clinics for ophthalmic emergencies, orthopedic emergencies, and ENT emergencies, providing services to patients at primary care centers rather than increasing the pressure on emergency departments that do not initially accept such cases without referrals.

We believe this matter requires reconsideration, noting that these clinics were established in hospitals to treat such cases, not to turn patients away as is currently practiced in these hospitals. We appeal to the authorities.