Minister of Health issues a decision to regulate surgical procedures and medical interventions in the public and private sectors
Kuwait’s Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmed Al-Awadi, issued a ministerial decision today, Monday, to regulate surgical procedures and medical interventions in both the public and private sectors. The Ministry of Health stated in a press release that the decision mandates licensing of healthcare facilities according to their classification, and compliance with approved standards for healthcare quality, infection control, and anesthesia safety, extending to the regulation of physicians’ professional privileges and competencies, as well as oversight, follow-up, documentation, and post-operative patient care mechanisms.
It added that the decision assigns departmental councils the authority to grant and approve privileges for performing surgical procedures and medical interventions, classifying approved procedures for each specialty based on job title, professional license, specialization, experience, and the nature of the procedure.
The decision enhances the supervisory and regulatory role of the Deputy Minister of Health, stipulating the approval of procedure classifications and the conditions, controls, and standards proposed by departmental councils. Each council must submit its list of classified surgical procedures for its specialty to the Deputy Minister within three months of the decision’s publication for approval.
The decision empowers the Deputy Minister or his authorized delegate, according to the administrative hierarchy, to temporarily suspend the privilege to perform surgeries or medical interventions when medically necessary, and to review requests concerning overlapping privileges among different medical specialties within three months of the decision’s publication.
The Ministry noted that the decision emphasizes the necessity of linking surgical procedures and medical interventions to the physician’s specialty, license, and approved professional privileges. It requires that elective scheduled surgeries be approved by a physician at the specialist level or higher.
The decision reinforces patients’ rights by obligating the attending physician or a designated member of the medical team at the specified professional level to obtain informed consent from the patient or their legal representative before performing any surgery or medical intervention, and to document it in the medical file. It also mandates disclosing the identity of the medical team performing the procedure to the patient, and prohibits delegating the procedure to another physician without the patient’s or their representative’s consent, provided the substitute physician holds the necessary privileges.
The Ministry stated that the decision permits physicians working in the public sector, within the scope of their license and specified controls, to perform surgeries and medical interventions in other government hospitals when necessary, after obtaining the required approvals. It requires the host hospital to be prepared and to have a qualified medical team available to monitor potential complications.
Furthermore, the decision authorizes, in emergency or critical cases aimed at preserving the patient’s life or preventing serious harm, surgeons employed by the Ministry of Health to provide surgical care in private healthcare facilities, in accordance with the approvals and procedures specified by the decision.
