Abu Dhabi hospitals asked to accept emergency cases irrespective of health cover

The circular came after a father in Al Ain accused two private hospitals for medical negligence.

Healthcare providers in Abu Dhabi have been told to accept and treat all emergency cases irrespective of their insurance coverage plans. Taking to Twitter, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said the Department of Health (DoH) has issued a circular about this to all healthcare providers operating in the emirate.

"@DoHSocial issues a circulation to all health service providers in Abu Dhabi emirate reiterating the importance of receiving/treating all emergency cases - regardless of validity of the insurance cards - and to ensure that hospitals are prepared to accept or refer necessary cases," the media office tweeted on Wednesday, December 11.

The circular came after a father in Al Ain accused two private hospitals for medical negligence that allegedly led to the death of his two-year-old son. Alaa Rawajbi, a Jordanian expat, said his child, Karim, passed away in October this year after suffering from an acute fever.

He said a hospital refused to treat his critically-ill child because his health insurance wasn't accepted there.

As Khaleej Times reported, Rawajbi has filed a lawsuit against two hospitals. After four days at one hospital, the doctors there asked him to take him to another one with better equipment and expertise. He said the doctors contacted the new hospital but there was no proper coordination to receive the child as an 'emergency case'.

The other hospital allegedly refused to admit the child due to his insurance cover, forcing the distraught father to take him to yet another hospital, where he died.