Sector leaders defend private medical care amid criticism

AMMAN — Private hospitals in Jordan treated over a quarter of a million patients from around the world last year with a "very low" ratio of complaints against healthcare providers, according to figures offered by stakeholders. 

Sector representatives believe that the Kingdom's medical tourism will continue to enjoy a "good" global and regional reputation despite negative media reporting, which tend to give prominence to "criticism".    

Private Hospitals Association (PHA) President Fawzi Hammouri said that the medical sector in Jordan is one of the top rated internationally in terms of medical and nursing cadres, cost of treatment and application of advanced equipment. 

Hammouri told The Jordan Times Sunday that “only dozens of people complained about the quality of services, prices or malpractice” out of the quarter of a million who sought healthcare in the Kingdom.   

He cited the UK-based International Medical Travel Journal awards that named Jordan as the best destination for medical tourism in the world in 2014. Revenues of the sector exceeded $1 billion last year.   

Testifying to the professionalism of Jordanian cadres, there are around 1,500 Jordanian doctors working in prestigious medical facilities in the US, Europe and the Gulf region, Hammouri said. He added that they and their colleagues working locally are a key reason for the sector's success. 

"Jordan will continue to be not only a regional leader but also a global destination for medical tourism," he noted.

‘Negative media coverage’

Hammouri and other sector representatives believe the sector is targeted by negative media coverage from regional competitors. 

They were commenting on a TV report broadcast by MBC group, which described some doctors in the Kingdom as "greedy", who charge very high fees for surgeries. 

The report also said that the Kingdom lacks medical accountability. 

Amer Smadi, veteran Jordan Television journalist and programme host, posted on his Facebook page recently that during his visits to Gulf countries he had heard complaints about the quality of services at private hospitals in Jordan as well as maltreatment and exaggeration in hospital charges.

 “Despite my defence of the Jordanian medical sector, I agree that a lot of the criticism is valid,” said Smadi, who tours Arab and non-Arab countries as part of his work.

He urged the Health Ministry to take action and put an end to “some who exploit Jordan’s medical reputation to only reap financial gains and exploit Arab and Jordanian patients in a manner that — to say the least — can be described as ugly”.

Not only Gulf Arabs, but also some Jordanians have their grievances against the quality of service at private hospitals and their focus on financial matters.

In a letter e-mailed to The Jordan Times recently, Jazz Zaatari, a physician, complained that during a visit he had to a major hospital in Amman, he noticed that the management and medical cadres’ main concern was financial rather than the wellbeing of patients. 

"I went there for treatment of severe dental pain following a dental surgery earlier in the day, and I was shocked that instead of being treated as a respected medical practitioner, I was being dealt with on the level of a drug addict," he said. 

Meteb Wreikat, director of the Health Ministry’s medical tourism directorate, said medical errors or malpractice happen everywhere.

Wreikat, however, stressed that if any patient faced a problem, “we are ready to handle the complaint, and if the patient is dissatisfied with the results of the investigation, they are ensured of the right to resort to the judiciary”.

Meanwhile, the ministry official said, the “medical accountability draft law, which was endorsed by the Lower House and referred to the Senate recently will help in dealing with any complaint related to medical errors or malpractice”.

In addition, he said “health attachés” in the Kingdom’s embassies are required to coordinate with the ministry regarding patients coming to Jordan for medical treatment.

Basem Kiswani, head of the complaints committee at Jordan Medical Association (JMA), agreed that medical errors and malpractice “remain isolated and individual cases”.

He stressed that the national legislation governing medical practice is efficient and that there are strict laws to protect patients.

According to Kiswani, the association has received since 2013 a total of 462 complaints from Jordanians and Arab patients. Of the total, 313 complaints were not valid, 50 were being examined by the committee and 64 reviewed by technical subcommittees.

The type of complaints that the JMA handles are related to medical errors or negligence, while others concern to the way a doctor treat his/her patients. The third type, Kiswani explained, is related to prices, while the fourth involves cases when a doctor refuses to treat a patient.

Responding to criticism in the MBC report that accused hospitals and doctors in Jordan of requesting patients to pay before they are admitted, Hammouri said that private hospitals are companies that seek a “fair margin” of profitability and apply legitimate financial practices to guarantee they are paid for the services they offer. 

However, he said that private hospitals in Jordan have offered treatment to patients from Jordan for free and patients from some Arab countries such as Yemen and Libya without guarantees. 

Unpaid debts owed by countries and patients to hospitals exceed $180 million, he said. 

Hammouri noted that  treatment costs in Jordan are 30 per cent lower than in the United Arab Emirates and 50 per cent in Saudi Arabia. 

“This is a main reason why patients from Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other countries choose Jordan for treatment,” he added, noting that prices and charges for health services are controlled and set by the government and the JMA. 

As for complaints, Hammouri said they “only constitute an insignificant fraction of the overall cases”.