Dubai hospital to fine 'irresponsible' patients missing appointments

Patients at a private hospital in Jebel Ali, Dubai, will now be fined Dh50 if they fail to come in for appointments without giving any notice.

Roughly 10 per cent of patients who book appointments at Lifeline Hospital Jebel Ali do not show up, said Advet Bhambhani, the chief executive of Lifeline Healthcare, which runs the hospital.

"If a patient gets delayed or cancels an appointment at the last moment, it has a ripple effect and impacts the patients who are waiting and could have been accommodated easily," he said.

"We can understand if it is an emergency but that is a rare occurrence as most of the time it is just a case of irresponsibility."

newsdesk@thenational.ae