Bahrain government rebuffs citizens’ quota in healthcare

• MPs unanimous in demand
• Ministers list likely harms
• Proposal heads to Shura Council

A unanimous call by the Bahraini parliament for half the jobs in private healthcare to be reserved for citizens has been rejected by the government on the grounds of possible harm to patients and the potential impact on foreign direct investment.

Government officials told the National Assembly that the proposed quota would constrain private healthcare’s ability to serve patients requiring treatment that Bahraini professionals are not available to provide, according to a report in Gulf Daily News. 

It would also affect the ability to quickly respond to medical emergencies as they arise, and “it contradicts government’s policies to initiate and attract investments in the field”.

The kingdom’s legislators are trying to reduce unemployment among Bahraini medical professionals, but a current shortage of skilled local workers might end up harming service quality, says Mansoor Ahmed, an adviser for healthcare, life sciences and real estate in the Gulf.

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Any “jobs for Bahrainis” policy would require significant enhancements to training programmes and might undermine the sector’s overall performance, he says.

It could also put off foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Bahraini healthcare sector, “as private investors and operators may see the regulation as a constraint”.  

Healthcare contributed 3.4 percent to Bahrain’s gross domestic product in 2022, attracting BHD21.7 million ($57.6 million) in FDI, according to a report by Tamkeen, an independent government agency whose mission is to support private sector development in the kingdom.

Representatives in Bahrain’s National Assembly last week unanimously approved a bill to increase locals’ participation in the private healthcare sector and the text is now headed to the Shura Council, or consultative council, for review, according to news reports.

However, government officials say that the 50 percent quota may be too hard to meet, especially in areas such as nuclear radiology, dermatology surgery, toxicology and other advanced, niche segments that suffer from a dearth of Bahraini professionals. 

Incentives offered

Bahrain’s health minister, Jaleela bint Al Sayed Jawad Hasan, and the labour minister, Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, said in parliament that the government already offers incentives to private healthcare providers that hire Bahrainis and bans them from employing expats when equally qualified nationals are available for the job.

“There are 970 Bahraini medical jobseekers, with 480 set to receive targeted training,” the labour minister said, according to a report on November 8 in the Economic Times. 

MPs countered that the quota’s enforcement would be flexible and adjustable over time. 

More than 22,000 people were employed in public and private healthcare in Bahrain as of September, the Tamkeen report said. Just fewer than half of them, or around 10,000, worked on the private side alone.

Of the total workforce, 10,500 employees, or 47.6 percent, were Bahraini nationals, the report found. Tamkeen did not provide a separate nationality breakdown for public and private healthcare workers, but it said that locals’ presence varied significantly across specialties.

“There appears to be an opportunity for Bahraini professionals in nursing and pharmacy, where the Bahrainisation rate is relatively lower in comparison to the other job families,” the agency wrote.

‘Extensive’ training required

According to Mansoor Ahmed, to succeed, parliament’s efforts would immediately require offering “extensive” new training to prospective Bahraini healthcare workers. 

“In the long term, Bahrain will need to establish more specialised medical education institutions to produce a sustainable supply of workforce,” he says.

Peter Cappelli, a professor of management and director for the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, argues that strong, dedicated infrastructure is the key to successful attempts to impose quotas. 

That includes institutions that can prepare locals for these jobs, as well as tests and certifications to ensure that the new recruits can perform them at the necessary level.

Cappelli, who served as a senior adviser to the Kingdom of Bahrain for employment policy from 2003 to 2005, says: ““Are there ways of paying for it? Are we willing to let wages rise to the level that Bahrainis would want these jobs?  

“If the answers are ‘yes’, or at least, ‘we are willing to try,’ then it could work,” he says. “If they are ‘no’, then we will see very expensive work-arounds to bring in foreigners.”