Bahrain Mirror: A number of doctors at Al-Salmaniya submitted an official letter to Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, complaining about suspending their scholarship procedures to obtain a subspecialty in hematology and oncology, especially that the Ministry of Health suffers from a severe shortage in this specialty in terms of Bahraini doctors specializing in critical diseases.

The doctors who addressed more than one side to resolve their crisis, which has been pending for some time without clear reasons, confirmed that the Ministry of Health has sought to fill the shortage and increase the Bahrainization of such specialized jobs, and strengthen the medical component in Bahrain with Bahraini elements who have experience and professional medical certificates. Thus, the ministry completed their scholarship procedures in agreement with the Civil Service Bureau. The doctors added that all procedures are in accordance with the law and budget allocated for that, but these procedures have been frozen in the bureau without knowing their fate or even contacting with doctors.

They said that the Ministry of Health needs specialized doctors to follow up the needs of patients of Sickle Cell Anemia and tumors. It is strange that the bureau has sent a number of these requests and kept those of other doctors, whereby some left their positions and others remain uncertain about the selectivity in these measures.

It is worth mentioning that the Minister of Health Faeqa Al-Saleh stated during a parliamentary session in the previous term that the ministry sent 32 doctors abroad in order to obtain certificates of subspecialties in some specialties which Al-Salmainya suffers from shortage in, which forced the hospital administration to bring in foreign specialists to cover the shortfall.

Arabic Version