Health services management in Qatar.

Aim: To assess health care delivery system in the State of Qatar and audit it according to the Joint Commission International (JCI) standard.

Methods: The data for this retrospective descriptive study were taken from the Annual Health Report of the National Health Authority and Hamad Medical Corporation and various additional sources like World Health Organization reports, Annual Report of Saudi Arabia, and Compendium of Health Statistics, UK. Population per physician, per general practitioner, and per hospital bed, and nurses per physician ratio were calculated.

Results: In 2008, the population per physician in Qatar was 444; the population per general practitioner (GP) was 949; the population per hospital bed was 716; and nurses per physician ratio was 2.6. During the last decade, the population of Qatar has more than doubled, which has resulted in a similar increase in the number of health care providers; moreover, many initiatives launched in cooperation with internationally recognized institutions have greatly improved the quality of the health service. The weighted mean number of visits for 100 population was calculated for the UK and Qatar, taking into consideration the difference in age and sex structure. After comparison with the UK data, population/GP ratio for Qatar should be 1193.

Conclusion: The Qatar health system has improved in the last decade, but there is still the need for more medical workers in primary health care.