Passing inspection gets you open. It does not end DHA's interest in you. Here is what the rules ask of a clinic once patients start coming through the door.
Your facility licence becomes active after a passed inspection, with a valid trade licence and an appointed medical director in place. All linked professional licences then activate automatically.
DHA then requires you to complete its capacity survey. Radiology has its own path: if you installed equipment, you also need registration and final approval from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).
Keep the charter of patients' rights and responsibilities displayed at the entrance in Arabic and English, along with your emergency contact numbers and evacuation maps.
This catches new owners out. DHA's manual lists obtaining prior approval for media and advertising materials among a facility's responsibilities, and no health services can be promoted at all during the inactive licence period.
Build the approval time into your launch plan. A website, social media campaign or leaflet may all need checking, and DHA's manual warns that misleading information and false statements can lead to legal action. Avoid outcome claims and guarantees in anything you publish, and keep a copy of each approval.
DHA's manual says inspectors may visit at their discretion once the licence is active. Sheryan's FAQ says non-hospital facilities should expect at least two routine visits a year.
The easiest way to stay ready is to treat DHA's published checklist as a monthly routine. Have someone walk the clinic against it, and keep these records current:
DHA's manual says that if licensed professional staff are unavailable, DHA will temporarily close the facility, for up to six months. So one resignation in a small team can stop trading.
Before opening, decide who covers leave, sickness and notice periods, and how long it takes to license a replacement. Licences must stay active, and you must maintain malpractice insurance for all licensed professionals. DHA also says management must not employ or involve a professional whose licence is suspended, revoked or blacklisted.
HealthcareSetup UAE recruits and credentials clinical teams, and Pharmareg UAE handles facility and professional licensing.
DHA's amend facility licence service covers most changes you might want in a first year. It is an online application and it carries a fee. Apply before you act.
Each one can affect your rooms, team and equipment. A new specialty may need its own room, a new professional and a new inspection, so run it past your medical director first.
You can start renewal up to 3 months before expiry. To renew an active licence, you upload the renewed trade licence, make sure all professional licences are active, clear any penalties and pay the fee.
Missing it gets expensive. Delay fines apply, and practising on an expired facility licence is a violation. The facility should not provide services and its professionals should not practise until it is renewed. After 6 months without renewal, or with the requirements unmet, the licence is treated as cancelled.
Put the trade licence expiry and the facility licence expiry in one calendar, with one named owner. HealthcareSetup UAE has a guide to DHA clinic licence requirements if you are still planning.
Not during the inactive licence period, when DHA does not allow a facility to promote or advertise any health services. Once active, DHA's manual requires prior approval for media and advertising materials.
Sheryan's FAQ says non-hospital facilities should expect at least two routine visits a year, and DHA's manual says inspectors may also visit at their discretion.
DHA's manual says unavailability of licensed professional staff will result in temporary closure of the facility, for a maximum of six months. Plan your cover before that happens.
You can start up to 3 months before expiry. You need your renewed trade licence, active professional licences and any penalties cleared.
Pharmareg UAE handles facility and professional licensing and inspection readiness, and HealthcareSetup UAE builds and adds services to clinics. Both are brands of the same company and publish this guide.
Company formation, DHA licensing, premises and layout approval, the clinical team and systems, run as one project and handed over ready for the first patient.
healthcaresetup.ae ↗Regulatory affairs in the UAE: DHA facility and professional licensing, NABIDH, inspection readiness, and pharmaceutical and medical device registration.
pharmareguae.com ↗