The Bahrain Health Ministry said it seeks to balance the need to protect public health with safeguarding the rights of private medical practitioners in the Kingdom.

The ministry said it has also renewed licences of several consultants to operate private clinics for another year.

The moves follow a recent ministry decision to ban doctors at the kingdom’s biggest hospital from working both in public and private sectors with a view to better regulate the sector and improve health services.

The Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, reported this month that 70 Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) doctors have protested against the move, and that a fourth of SMC doctors have refused to sign the new regulation and allegedly demanded to be paid BD7,000 ($18,462) a month to compensate potential lost earnings from their private practices.

Civil Service Bureau, meanwhile, has announced plans to restructure medical organisational chart to incorporate the planned changes, including salaries and benefits.-TradeArabia News Service