191203P - IMPLEMENTATION, BENEFITS AND FUTURE OF SHARIAH COMPLIANT HOSPITAL

Presented at the 3rd National Seminar on Shariah Compliance Hospital 2019 held at Kuantan, Malaysia on December 3, 2019 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Chairman of the Human and Medical Ethics Committee as well as the Institutional Review Board King Fahad Medical City Riyadh Saudi Arabia

IMPLEMENTATION: gradualism

• The guiding principle in implementing a sharia’at compliant hospital is gradualism.
• The concept of a shari’at hospital is new to most Muslim and non-Muslim health and non-health audiences. It is a major innovation that by its unique challenges many existing concepts and paradigms. 
• To succeed we need to proceed as an evolution and not a revolution. We introduce small changes at a time and with time we can reach the final goal. 
• The change may start from man existing conventional hospitals whose sections and departments are changed gradually. 
• The change could also start with a new hospital but it is advised to start different departments and services at different times. 

IMPLEMENTATION: realism

• As the implementation proceeds, we should balance aspirations with realities. 
• There may be services or processes that we want to introduce because we think they are important for a shari’at compliant hospital or because we saw them implemented elsewhere; however they are not possible right now.
• We must consider our institutional knowledge and experience as well as resources.
• Trying to implement unrealistic changes will lead to frustrations and the accumulation of frustrations may lead to failure of the whole project. 
• The most important consideration is the economic one. Whatever we do we must make sure that whatever we introduce is economically viable.

IMPLEMENTATION: networking

• A shari’at compliant hospital does not operate in a vacuum. 
• It is part of a health care system consisting of other health facilities in the same area. 
• It must know how to interact with all of these for mutual benefit.

IMPLEMENTATION: quality

• Although the shari’at compliant hospital is a noble idea, it is still judged by the usual criteria of quality in addition to those imposed by the shari’at compliance.
• The managers must make sure that there are no mistakes or major failures that will destroy the image and credibility of the hospital because they will affect the self-confidence of the staff and the image of the hospital. 

BENEFITS: spiritual and psychosocial

• A shari’at compliant hospital provides value-added care to the patient. The value is not in the technology but in the spiritual and psycho-social dimensions. 
• Spiritually patients are able to perform their ‘ibadat duties and to get counseling and dua from the staff and specially trained chaplains. 
• Patients are treated in an environment that emphasizes serenity and taqwa. All these combined contribute to their spiritual rejuvenation and satisfaction. 

BENEFITS: societal

• Socially the shari’at compliant hospital should be an extension of the society outside with the patient being looked at as a human being and a member of society and not a collection of pathologies. 
• The relation between the patient and the caregivers is more of a brotherhood than a technical therapeutic technical relation. 
• The patient’s family and friends are welcome in the hospital as guests of the hospital whose presence is appreciated because they provide a psycho-social dimension to the therapeutic process

FUTURE: humane and spiritual environment

• The future of shari’at compliant hospitals is bright. 
• More such hospitals shall be built and operated because of increasing demand from Muslim and non-Muslim patients for high-quality care in a humane and spiritual environment where the patient is respected as a person. 
• The major selling point will be the humane dimension of these hospitals that will be assured by careful selection and training of the staff. 
• The hospitals will provide holistic care that combines the best known in medicine with humane and personal care based on Islamic principles and practice.

FUTURE: halal

• Muslim patients and some non-Muslim ones will be attracted to these hospitals because of the use of halal products in medicines, food, and supplies. 
• Halal products are known for being clean and healthy.