Doha Clinic, the oldest private hospital in Qatar, is planning to open a new hospital in Abu Sidra in Al Rayyan area with a capacity of 250 beds, a senior official has disclosed.

The hospital also has plans to buy a plot of land in Doha to build another hospital with 60 beds, its director Dr Osman Al Sayed told a local Arabic daily.

Al Sayed said the new projects are part of the preparations for the third phase of the national health insurance scheme, Seha, which will cover all expatriates. This phase is expected to be implemented by the end of next year.

He said some doctors still prefer private insurance due to delays in payments by the National Health Insurance Company (NHIC) that manages Seha. About 80 per cent of the patients at the hospital had health insurance cover even before implementation of Seha.

He said there are many people - citizens and expatriates- who try to misuse health insurance. Some of them have more than one health ID which is often used by other people.

“We have noticed two such cases and reported them to the NHIC,” said Al Sayed.

He said there is a need for an independent authority to organise relations between private hospitals and NHIC.

“If there is a difference between the two sides, particularly related to financial issues, who will resolve it?”

Al Sayed said such independent bodies exist in many countries which have implemented national health insurance systems.

Here NHIC is making and implementing the policy and playing the supervisory role.

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QNE

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