Residents of Ras Al Khaimah demanded reducing the costs of natural and caesarean sections at Saqr Government Hospital, and setting prices commensurate with their average levels of income, pointing out that their low salaries are not enough to pay half the value of the amount requested by the hospital administration in exchange for performing the birth. People estimated the average salaries of residents in Ras Al Khaimah to not exceed 4,000 dirhams, while the hospital administration asks patients to pay 3,000 dirhams, the value of the first installment of the cost of the birth process, with the rest of the amount due to be completed before the birth process takes place.
They told Emirates Today that they cannot afford the increasing family expenses, which prevents many of them from having children, while others revealed that they were unable to pay the amount required to obtain new residency permits for their wives and children, which makes them in violation of the residency laws in the country.
It is noteworthy that no resident of the emirate may bring his wife to the state if his salary is less than 4,000 dirhams without housing, or 3,500 dirhams with housing.
For its part, the administration of Saqr Governmental Hospital told Emirates Al-Youm that it “does not deal with those with maternity cases according to their legal status in the country, stressing that there are no instructions preventing the reception of maternity cases who do not have residency.”
She added that the hospital suffers greatly from non-payment of residency and low-income patients for the cost of childbirth and follow-up treatment, pointing out that the amounts of money owed by patients are accumulating daily due to the failure of many patients to fulfill their financial dues, which prompts the hospital administration to withhold the birth report to To pay all financial dues to the hospital.
In detail, employee “A.Z,” a resident of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, said that he cannot pay 9,000 dirhams to Saqr Government Hospital, the cost of his wife’s birth, because his basic salary does not exceed 2,000 dirhams, indicating that his financial situation is very difficult. He said that what makes the situation worse is his inability to renew his wife’s residency, which makes her in violation of the residency conditions.
A reviewer at Saqr Hospital confirmed that his poor financial situation prevented him from benefiting from many of the therapeutic services provided by the hospital. He explained: “When my wife went to Saqr Hospital to give birth, he asked me to pay 3,000 dirhams as a down payment, in exchange for admitting her to the hospital to undergo the necessary medical examinations.” In preparation for the delivery procedure, but I do not have this amount. I work for a government agency and my salary is not enough to buy household needs. What made the situation worse was that my wife was working for a company in a neighboring emirate, and her residency was under her sponsor, but after her services were terminated, she became an illegal resident of the country, because the residency law does not allow me to sponsor my wife as long as my salary is less than 4,000 dirhams.
He expressed his hope that the hospital would allow him to admit his wife to continue treatment and childbirth, so that she could resume her search for a new job, allowing her to regularize her legal status.
The employee, S.K., confirmed that “the costs of childbirth for residents of the emirate are very high, pointing out the need to take into account the average income, which does not exceed 4,000 dirhams.” He continued: “My salary is 6,000 dirhams, and I have two children, and I do not have health insurance or a health card, and before my wife entered Saqr Government Hospital, last week, the hospital administration asked me to pay the entire cost of the birth process, amounting to 9,000 dirhams, but I do not have this amount. The matter is Which prompted me to call my friends to save it, knowing that I appealed to the hospital administration to reduce it, but they refused to do so, and informed me that the cost of childbirth is fixed, and there are no exceptions.”
He continued that the costs of childbirth compared to my low salary are very high, calling on the Ministry of Health to reconsider the cost of childbirth, take into account the financial circumstances of low-income people, and distribute the cost of childbirth in installments to help families.
“SM” stated that his salary, which does not exceed 3,000 dirhams, prevents him from paying the birth bill at Saqr Hospital, adding that he was forced to admit his wife to the emergency department to avoid paying any financial costs for the birth process, indicating that he was forced to act in this way because of The high prices for childbirth at Saqr Hospital, and the refusal of some institutions to assist it financially in order to provide part of the hospital’s financial dues.
A source in the General Administration of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Ras Al Khaimah, who declined to be named, confirmed the existence of a committee for irregular humanitarian cases, which would like to settle and correct their legal status, by having the residency violator write a written letter addressed to the Director General, explaining his humanitarian condition and the reasons for his violation of residency, Until it is transferred to the Humanitarian Cases Committee in preparation for studying each case individually.
He continued that the Humanitarian Cases Committee studies the cases of residency violators, and takes the necessary measures in accordance with the law, either allowing the violator to regularize his legal status and granting him a residence visa, or refusing to grant him residency, and asking him to leave the country and pay the resulting financial fines.
He said that it is not permissible for any husband to keep his wife in the country illegally, and that the residency law specifies the conditions for granting foreigners residency within the country, warning that if the wife is caught violating the law, legal measures will be taken against her and she will be considered in violation of the law, and she will be referred to the competent authorities to take action. necessary, hinting that there is complete coordination between Saqr Governmental Hospital, the Labor and Workers Office, and the General Administration of Residency and Foreigners Affairs to report cases that enter the hospital and do not have residency in the country, with the aim of following them up. And take the necessary measures.
In turn, the director of Saqr Governmental Hospital, Dr. Abdullah Al-Nuaimi, said that the hospital administration treats all cases as medical cases, and performs the delivery process without reviewing the patient’s residence, but it does not allow any patient to leave the hospital, or obtain a birth report, without Paying the financial dues due thereto.
He explained that the administration is forced to take certain measures in such cases, most notably withholding the birth report to pay the auditor to fulfill the financial dues owed to him.
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