Decision No. 36 of 2024 lists the documents for each of the three licensing steps, from the applicant's CV in Arabic to the fire licence and the Ministry approved advertising template. After licensing, the medical director owns the clinical policies, consent forms, staff licences and device certificates.
Documents for each step
| Step | Documents |
|---|---|
| Initial approval, a Kuwaiti practitioner | CV in Arabic, qualifications approved by the competent bodies, experience certificates, civil ID, any government practice licence, proof of fitness if not practising for over a year |
| Initial approval, a Kuwaiti medical company | Articles of incorporation, commercial licence showing the company's purposes, commercial register certificate, practice licences of the professional owner and partners, authorised signatory |
| Initial licence | Specialties, engineering plan, lease or title deed, undertaking to meet the basic requirements, insurance policy, medical waste contract, price list, fees |
| Final licence | Kuwait Municipality approval of the site, fire licence, Environment Public Authority approval, final technical committee approvals, advertising template approved by the Ministry and the municipality, PACI address letter, fees |
A general hospital, specialist hospital or day surgery centre also provides an ambulance, with its registration and a technical inspection from the Medical Emergency Department.2
What the medical director keeps after licensing
Decision No. 36 of 2024 lists 24 duties for the medical director. They include setting the facility's clinical policies, making sure the informed consent forms its services need are in place, keeping every practitioner's licence and the licences of regulated devices, keeping operators' training certificates, applying quality and infection control standards, supervising the facility's social media accounts and checking every advertisement against the Ministry's standards before it is published.2
- Start from the three step lists. One folder per step, each document named as Decision No. 36 of 2024 names it.
- Write the clinical policies. Signed by the medical director, one for each service the licence covers.
- Draft consent forms per procedure. Covering the condition, the options with their benefits and risks, the plan and the common complications, as Article 10 of the law lists them.
- Keep the licence registers. Staff and visiting practitioners, devices and training certificates, in writing or electronically, as Article 61 allows.
- Approve the price list. No price changes without the Health Licensing Department's approval.
- Review advertising. Every advertisement and social media post checked against the Ministry's standards before it goes out.
- Document ______ Version ______ Approved by ______ on ______
- Clinical policy for service ______ Review date ______
- Consent form for procedure ______ Language ______ (Arabic, English)
- Staff licence register updated on ______
- Device licences and training certificates updated on ______
- Price list approved by the department on ______
- Advertisements reviewed this month ______
Questions
Must consent forms be in Arabic?
The law asks that the patient is informed in a suitable, simple and clear way. Decision No. 18 of 2023 asks hospitals offering heart surgery for printed guidance in Arabic and English, a sensible standard for any facility.
Who is responsible for the clinical policies?
The medical director, whom Decision No. 36 of 2024 makes responsible for setting them and for the consent forms each service needs.
Does the Ministry approve advertisements?
The final licence needs an advertising template approved by the Ministry and the municipality, and the medical director checks every advertisement against the Ministry's standards.
Sources
- 1Medical Responsibility Authority, Kuwait, 2020Law No. 70 of 2020 on the practice of medicine and its allied professions, patients' rights and health facilities, full Arabic textRead source
- 2Kuwait Ministry of Health, published by the Medical Responsibility Authority, 2024Ministerial Decision No. 36 of 2024 amending the regulation of requirements and controls for licensing private health facilitiesRead source
- 3Kuwait Ministry of Health, published by the Medical Responsibility Authority, 2023Ministerial Decision No. 18 of 2023 on the requirements for permitting heart surgery and catheterisation in the private sectorRead source
Written by the wai team from Kuwait's Ministry of Health guidance, checked on 16 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. Kuwait MOH does not endorse wai or any software.