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Opening a clinic in Sharjah

How to open a clinic in Sharjah

The Sharjah Health Authority licenses private clinics across the emirate, starting with an initial approval valid for one year and ending with a permanent licence issued after a field inspection, with a licensed medical director in post. From the day the licence is issued, wai runs booking, signed notes, consent, Arabic and English messaging and payments on one record, with every action logged under a named account.

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Updated . Every rule is checked against the official source and cited below.

A clinician in a long white coat walking through a vast stone hall, sunlight falling in tall stripes across the walls and floor

Regulator

Sharjah Health Authority (SHA)

Professionals

Licensed by SHA, with malpractice insurance

Records

Health data kept in the UAE, under federal law

Six steps to an open clinic in Sharjah

  1. Who licenses a private clinic in Sharjah, and in what order?Step 01
  2. What must a Sharjah clinic's premises have before the inspection?Step 02
  3. What malpractice insurance does a Sharjah clinic need?Step 03
  4. How does a new Sharjah clinic license its doctors and staff?Step 04
  5. What has to be in place before the first patient in Sharjah?Step 05
  6. What matters in a Sharjah clinic's first 90 days?Step 06

How to open a clinic in Sharjah, step by step

From the licence to the first 90 days, in the order a founder meets each step.

01Licensing and the regulator

Who licenses a private clinic in Sharjah, and in what order?

The Sharjah Health Authority. A Sharjah Executive Council decision of July 2025 regulates private health facilities across the emirate, and gives the Authority their licensing.12

  • Request initial approval on the Authority's portal, as the owner or a legal representative, with the owner's Emirates ID and passport, a layout plan, a proposal letter, the trade name reservation and the affection plan from Town Planning.3
  • Expect a decision in 8 working days. The initial approval is valid for one year, and it is not a licence to operate.3
  • Prepare the facility to the approved layout and the Authority's design, infrastructure and safety standards, with a licensed medical director appointed.4
  • Request the permanent licence and schedule the field inspection through the portal. A pass leads to a licence issued electronically, in 8 working days, valid for one year.4
  • Federal facilities differ. The Council's decision does not apply to federal government health facilities in the emirate.1

02Premises and fit-out

What must a Sharjah clinic's premises have before the inspection?

The premises must match the approved layout and the Authority's standards, and the permanent licence request carries a set of documents the inspection checks against.4

  • Bring the stamped layout, the building completion certificate and the equipment list.4
  • Register for waste management with WEQAYA, and obtain approval of your emergency operation plan from the Emergency and Disaster Management Division.4
  • Hold a FANR licence if the clinic will use radiation equipment.4
  • If the inspection finds gaps, the Authority sends its observations, and you correct them and reschedule.4
  • Host health data in the UAE. Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 bars storing or processing it outside the country unless a health authority resolution allows it.5

03Indemnity and insurance

What malpractice insurance does a Sharjah clinic need?

Every licensed professional needs valid medical malpractice insurance to activate their Sharjah licence, and federal law makes the facility owner insure its practitioners and pay the full premium.678

  • Submit each professional's malpractice insurance with the licence application, or within 14 days of approval.6
  • Insure every practitioner against civil liability for medical errors, and against the risks of the profession, at the owner's cost.7
  • For a temporary or visiting clinician, give the Authority a pledge letter that covers malpractice insurance and medical responsibility.6
  • A facility hosting a visiting physician is liable to compensate a patient harmed by that physician's error, with the right to recover from them.7

04Hiring and credentialing

How does a new Sharjah clinic license its doctors and staff?

The facility applies for each professional licence on the Authority's portal once its own licence is valid and active, and the licence is issued under the facility's name.6

  • Check that each clinician holds a valid professional assessment certificate from the Authority.6
  • Check the gap in practice, which may not exceed three years.6
  • Send an offer letter and the malpractice insurance with each application. Licences are processed in 8 working days.6
  • Send a health report for any professional over 60, and a no objection letter from the full-time employer for part-time staff.6

05Patient-facing setup

What has to be in place before the first patient in Sharjah?

A record that keeps health data confidential, in the UAE and for the full retention period, and a plan for the languages patients write in.59

  • Keep health data for at least 25 years from the patient's last procedure.5
  • Keep records on systems hosted in the UAE, as Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 requires.5
  • Request a medical advertisement licence from the Authority before the first campaign.10
  • Plan for many languages. Of about 1.8 million people at the 2022 census, 1.6 million were expatriate residents.9

06The first 90 days

What matters in a Sharjah clinic's first 90 days?

The permanent licence lasts one year, and renewal needs a record with no violations or unresolved observations, so the first quarter sets up the first renewal.411

  • Close every inspection observation, with the date it was closed.411
  • Diary the renewal window, which opens 30 days before expiry, with a valid trade licence and WEQAYA contract ready.11
  • Use the Authority's appeal service if a violation is wrong, and its corrective action service to close one that is right.10
  • Confirm that every professional's malpractice insurance is in place within 14 days of their licence approval.6
A front desk coordinator in a black headscarf smiling on a phone call at night, city lights blurred through the window behind her

How wai runs a Sharjah clinic from day one

From the day the permanent licence is issued, a Sharjah clinic runs its diary, notes, payments and patient conversations on one record, with every action kept as evidence.

  1. 01

    Appointments

    Patients request appointments from your own website at any hour from the day the licence is issued, with a reminder before every visit and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.

    Online booking from your own website, every clinician's diary read from their calendar, reminders, rebooking after a missed visit and waitlist offers when a slot opens.

    For patients
    Online booking at any hour, with a reminder before the visit.
    For the business
    Fewer missed appointments, and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.
    On the record
    Every booking, reminder and change, with a time and a name.
  2. 02

    Billing

    Card payments go to your clinic's own Stripe account, with the cancellation policy shown before the patient commits, invoices and an export for your accountant.

    Card payments into your own Stripe account, the cancellation policy shown at booking, invoices, statements and reconciliation, with an export for your accountant.

    For patients
    A clear price and policy before they commit, and an invoice in their app.
    For the business
    Payments reconciled against visits, with an export for your accountant.
    On the record
    What was charged, when, against which visit, and the policy the patient saw.
  3. 03

    Scribe

    The note, letters and referrals are drafted from the consultation and cited to published guidelines, for the doctor to read, edit and sign.

    The note, letters and referrals written from the consultation, cited to published clinical guidelines, with the transcript beside the note, for the clinician to read, edit and sign.

    For patients
    The clinician's attention stays on them during the consultation.
    For the business
    Less time spent writing notes after clinic.
    On the record
    A contemporaneous note, signed, with the time, the signature and the source it cites.
  4. 04

    Follow-up

    WhatsApp, email and calls land in one thread per patient, with replies drafted in Arabic, English or the language the patient wrote in, for your team to approve.

    WhatsApp, email and calls in one thread per patient, replies drafted in the patient's own language for your team to approve, a response clock on every new enquiry, and recalls a clinician approves.

    For patients
    A reply in the language they wrote in, approved by your team.
    For the business
    More enquiries answered within the hour, when they are most likely to book.
    On the record
    The whole conversation on one record, with response times.
  5. 05

    Evidence and audit trail

    Recording consent is taken at booking, controlled drug flags sit in the record, and every read of a file is logged against a named account.

    Recording consent taken at booking, referrals written from the visit, patient flags for controlled drugs and safeguarding notes, and every read of a record logged against a named account.

    For patients
    Flags and checks in the record at the point of care.
    For the business
    Incident reviews that start from the audit trail, with times and names.
    On the record
    Who saw what, who changed what, and when, to the minute.
  6. 06

    Staff access

    Every professional works under a named account with a role enforced in the database, so each action sits under an SHA licensed name.

    Named accounts for every person, and role-based access enforced in the database, so every action sits under a name.

    For patients
    Their record seen only by staff whose role allows it.
    For the business
    Access and actions tied to named people, in the same system as the record.
    On the record
    Who holds which role, and every action taken under it.
  7. 07

    Reporting

    Front desk, response time and takings reports for any period, and the patient's own record exportable on request.

    Takings, front desk and website reports, response targets, and the patient's own record exportable on request.

    For patients
    A copy of their record when they ask for it.
    For the business
    Weekly reports for leaders on response times, the front desk and takings.
    On the record
    Reports for any period, produced on the day they are asked for.

wai hosts your clinic's records in the UAE, under the UAE's rules. We set this up with you before go-live. Prices for clinics, groups and hospitals are on the wai pricing page.

What a well-run clinic gains

Patients answered within the hour, clinicians home on time and diaries that stay full, in published research.

  1. 7x

    An enquiry answered within the hour is nearly seven times as likely to become a real conversation.12

  2. 30%

    Clinicians using an ambient scribe did 30% less work after hours.13

  3. 23%

    Patients sent a notification before their visit were 23% more likely to attend.14

Questions

Is a Sharjah clinic licensed by the Ministry of Health or the Sharjah Health Authority?

A private clinic in Sharjah is regulated by the Sharjah Health Authority, under the Sharjah Executive Council's July 2025 decision.1 The decision does not apply to federal government facilities in the emirate.

How long does an SHA facility licence take?

The Authority lists 8 working days for an initial approval and 8 for the permanent licence.34 The time between depends on the fit-out, the medical director and the inspection.

Is malpractice insurance mandatory in Sharjah?

Yes. The Authority requires valid malpractice insurance to activate a professional licence, and federal law bars practice without civil liability insurance against medical errors.67

How long is a Sharjah clinic licence valid?

The permanent licence is valid for one year and is renewable.4 Renewal opens 30 days before expiry and needs a record with no unresolved violations.11

Sharjah regulators and guides

All regulators
  1. RegulatorThe regulators we cover, with no Sharjah hub yet
  2. RegulatorUAE clinic regulations in 2026

Sharjah in depth

All insights
  1. InsightClinic AI in Sharjah
  2. InsightAI scribes and UAE data residency
  3. InsightOne inbox for clinic messages

Opening a specialty clinic in Sharjah

Every specialty
  1. Specialtywai for private GP practices
  2. Specialtywai for dental practices
  3. Specialtywai for dermatology clinics
  4. Specialtywai for aesthetic clinics

Opening a clinic elsewhere

Every city
  1. CityOpening a clinic in Dubai
  2. CityOpening a clinic in Abu Dhabi
  3. CityOpening a clinic in Riyadh
  4. CityOpening a clinic in Doha
  5. CityOpening a clinic in London
  6. CityOpening a clinic in New York
  7. CityOpening a clinic in Los Angeles
  8. CityOpening a clinic in Miami
  9. CityOpening a clinic in Singapore
  10. CityOpening a clinic in Hong Kong
  11. CityOpening a clinic in Sydney
  12. CityOpening a clinic in Paris
  13. CityOpening a clinic in Edinburgh
  14. CityOpening a clinic in Chicago
  15. CityOpening a clinic in Houston

Request a demo for your Sharjah clinic.

We show wai running a Sharjah clinic on your own diary, notes and inbox, in a 15 minute video call with our team. wai hosts your clinic's records in the UAE, under the UAE's rules. We set this up with you before go-live.

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team@wellnessa-i.com

Sources

  1. 1Sharjah Executive Council, 2025SEC issues decision to regulate health activities and professionsRead source
  2. 2The Official Portal of the UAE Government, 2026Health authoritiesRead source
  3. 3Sharjah Health Authority, 2026Initial Approval ServiceRead source
  4. 4Sharjah Health Authority, 2026Permanent License ServiceRead source
  5. 5Dubai Health Authority, 2019Federal Law No. (2) of 2019 Concerning the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Health Fields, published on ISAHDRead source
  6. 6Sharjah Health Authority, 2026Request for Healthcare Professional LicenseRead source
  7. 7Dubai Health Authority, 2016Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016 on Medical Liability, English text published by DHARead source
  8. 8The Official Portal of the UAE Government, 2026Health policy and lawsRead source
  9. 9The Official Portal of the UAE Government, 2026Sharjah, the seven emiratesRead source
  10. 10Sharjah Health Authority, 2026ServicesRead source
  11. 11Sharjah Health Authority, 2026Permanent License Renewal ServiceRead source
  12. 12Harvard Business Review, 2011The Short Life of Online Sales LeadsRead source
  13. 13JAMA Network Open, 2025Clinician Experiences With Ambient Scribe Technology to Assist With Documentation Burden and EfficiencyRead source
  14. 14BMJ Open, 2016Using digital notifications to improve attendance in clinic, systematic review and meta-analysisRead source