Dubai, July 1, 2007 (WAM): A recent study conductedby Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has concluded that the healthcaresector should ensure that it attracts high quality employees in orderto achieve the standards set by the Dubai strategy 2015.

Human resources play a critical role in the healthcareindustry in ensuring that services provided are of the highest quality.

Patients are reliant on staff to act on behalf of them in dispensing medicines,disseminating information and performing, often complex, operations. Thequality of the healthcare staff will therefore determine, to a large extent,the quality of the healthcare service, the study said.

With new initiatives, such as Dubai Healthcare City, itis clear that Dubai aims at positioning itself as a choice for qualityhealthcare both regionally and internationally. In light of this, thelabor market of Dubai's healthcare sector is analyzed and benchmarkedinternationally to indicate its strengths and weaknesses.

Citing figures from the official statistics, the studysaid that in 2005 an estimated 14,539 people were working in the healthcaresector, 1.5% of Dubai's employed. The majority were employed as nurses,comprising 32% of the healthcare workforce. 21% are employed as technicians,20% as administrators and 15% as doctors. The number of registered dentistsin Dubai is comparatively low, constituting only 3% of the total healthcareworkforce.

Dubai's healthcare sector is no exception to other sectors inthe economy, it is heavily reliant on foreign labor. In 2005, UAE nationalsonly accounted for 1% of the total employment in the sector. This is proportionatelyless than their presence in the population and therefore indicates a failureof the Emiratisation scheme to penetrate the healthcare sector effectively.

The study also showed that the labour in the healthcare sectoris primarily provided by Asians, in 2005 constituting 76% of healthcareemployment. Relative to Western and Arab labor, Asian labor is often preferredas it is comparatively less expensive. This generates some concern regardingthe quality of the healthcare expatriate labor, and questions whetherquality is being forfeited for price.

The Ministry of Health (MOH), in 2005, employed a nursefor every 1.7 beds, the highest out of all the healthcare providers inDubai. The Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS) employedan average of 1 nurse for every 1.85 beds, which is still considerablyhigher than the 1 nurse for every 3.7 beds in the private sector. Theseratios reflect the structure of the private sector, which hitherto, isconcentrated in treating outpatients in clinics. Nurses in Dubai are mainlyfrom Asia, comprising 91%, whilst UAE nationals currently do not assumeany positions.

In 2005, there were 3.5 nurses for every thousand memberof Dubai's population. Benchmarked internationally, this is low, the USAand UK employed 7.9 and 9.2 nurses for their respective populations inthe same year.

Since 2001, the number of doctors registered in Dubaihas increased by 55% to over 2 thousands in 2005. The private sector employs61% of physicians. The private sector employs 1 doctor for every 2.9 beds,whereas the public sector employs 1 doctor for every 0.7 beds.

In 2005 Dubai had only 0.5 doctors registered for every1,000 people in the population. By international standards this is extremelylow, Singapore, UK and USA had 1.6, 2.3 and 2.4 registered respectively.

While the total number of pharmacists working in Dubai in2005 was 1,297 specialists, representing around 9 % of the total workersin the healthcare sector. The private sector accounted for 80% of thepharmacists working in Dubai.

Dubai registered 1.0 pharmacist for every 1,000 peoplein the population in 2005. From figures, it is clear that this is comparativelyhigh when compared with other countries and even within the UAE.

The number of dentists working in Dubai is relativelysmall compared to the other areas of healthcare employment. In 2005 therewere a total of 434 registered dentists in Dubai of which 75% worked inthe private sector. 67% of dentists in Dubai are of Asian origin and 23%,a significant proportion, are Arab. There are currently no UAE nationalsregistered as dentists.

Based on these facts, and in line with Dubai's strategicplan 2015, Dubai's healthcare sector must endeavor to ensure it attractshigh quality labor. Initiatives such as Dubai Healthcare City should helpto achieve this agenda, concluded the study.