42,000 applications were received by the committee through its electronic system last year.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates,  January 2, 2024: The Dubai Health Authority’s General Medical Committee for the Emirate of Dubai, has issued the second version of its guidelines, for all Dubai government employees and external customers. This comes after making the necessary updates and obtaining approval from the medical committees at the state level, to serve as a reference for decision-making in accordance with relevant legislation.

The updated guidelines consist of 194 pages distributed across nine chapters, encompassing rules and  foundations for decision-making aimed at ensuring governance and equality among Dubai government employees. This covers matters such as medical audits, sick leave requests, the determination of disability rates resulting from work injuries and occupational diseases and recommendations for reducing employees’ working hours for health reasons 

Dr. Khaldoun Nabhan, Vice Chairperson of the General Medical Committee of the Emirate of Dubai highlighted the importance of this guide, with its updates keeping pace with the rapid developments witnessed by the medical sector in the emirate. This demonstrates the efforts undertaken by the DHA to improve patient care and provide accurate and practical medical guidance to health practitioners in the emirate and patients in general, by integrating the latest modern scientific studies and research.

He pointed out the influential role of the guideline in supporting the work of the Medical Committee. Since its reconstitution in 2015, the committee has been able to decide on all applications submitted to it through the smart system within just one working day. He also highlighted the number of applications received by the committee last year, which amounted to 42,000 applications.

The first chapter of the updated guide includes an explanation of the tasks of the medical committee as stipulated in the Dubai Government Human Resources Management Law and related legislation. It also covers additional tasks and competencies, and provides an explanation of the procedure flow mechanism and the decision-making methodology followed by the committee. The second chapter focuses on the 'medical guide' for hospital stays and the duration of sick leave granted in more than 1,000 medical cases across 26 medical specialties. This information is aimed at informing Dubai government employees about the duration of sick leave allocated to cases without complications.

The third chapter of the guide addresses the process for medically auditing requests for work injuries and occupational diseases in accordance with the provisions of Executive Council Resolution No. (62) of 2016 concerning the care of Dubai government employees from work injuries and occupational diseases, and Resolution of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dubai Health Authority No. (143) of 2016, which adopts a table for determining occupational diseases and rates of permanent disability.

The fourth chapter reviews medical cases that necessitate sending patients for treatment outside the country due to the unavailability of treatment within the country. It also outlines the requirement for approving companion leave and provides examples of 35  such health cases. The fifth chapter explains chronic medical cases and cases of weak immune diseases that require granting the 'work remotely for health reasons' feature. Chapters Six and Seven pertain to medical cases requiring a 'Sanad for People of Determination' card in accordance with the provisions of Cabinet Resolution No. (3) of 2018 regarding the unified national classification of disabilities (People of Determination) in the country. This is in coordination with the Community Development Authority in Dubai, where the number of applications in this field has reached 9,800.

Chapter Eight refers to the medical conditions that require issuing a 'vehicle window tinting' permit in coordination with the Roads and Transport Authority. Meanwhile, Chapter Nine pertains to the names of the doctors and consultants who participated in updating the guidelines for the work of the Medical Committee, totaling 44 consultants and specialists from both the Dubai Health Authority and the health sector in the UAE. Dr. Nabhan highlighted that the Office of the General Medical Committee conducted over 30 workshops in various local Dubai departments, as well as other government and semi-government departments in Dubai.