Sharjah Health Authority (SHA): complaints, accountability committees and your next steps

On 15 July 2025 the Sharjah Executive Council issued a resolution regulating health activities and health professions in the emirate, Executive Council Resolution No. 29 of 2025. It applies to "local health establishments affiliated with the Government of Sharjah and private health facilities in the Emirate and free zones", and to the professionals who work in them. Federal health facilities in Sharjah are excluded.

The official announcement describes three aims: an "integrated system for health regulation management", good governance built on "transparency, fairness, and legal accountability", and legal foundations for practising the health professions. It lists the Resolution's building blocks:

• the powers of the Sharjah Health Authority;
• committees on accountability, medical practice and grievances;
• conditions and procedures for health facility permits and professional health licences;
• administrative penalties, fees and judicial enforcement.

The May 2026 amendment

On 19 May 2026 the Council amended the Resolution to add administrative penalties against violators. The announcement says the change aims to "ensure healthcare providers comply with applicable systems and laws", to strengthen monitoring and regulatory measures, to limit professional violations and to protect patients' rights. It applies to the same group: Sharjah government establishments, private facilities in the emirate and free zones, and the professionals working in them.

For a professional, the significance is simple. Sharjah now has its own route for holding practitioners to account, with its own committees and, since 2026, its own penalty powers, alongside the federal laws that apply everywhere in the UAE.

When this page was checked on 6 October 2026, the official English announcements described the structure of the Sharjah framework but not its procedure, and the full English text of the Resolution and its amendment was not available on the official pages we opened. Rather than guess, the table separates what is confirmed from what you should request in writing.

Asking these questions is not obstructive. A clear written basis helps the committee as much as it helps you, and it tells you which dates to put in your diary.

Local rules sit on top of federal law; they do not replace it. The SHA's own laws page lists the federal instruments it works with, including:

• Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016 Concerning Medical Liability, and its Executive Regulations in Cabinet Resolution No. 40 of 2019;
• Federal Law No. 5 of 2019 on the practice of human medicine (physicians and dentists);
• Federal Law No. 6 of 2023 on professions other than physicians and pharmacists (nurses, midwives, allied health);
• Federal Law No. 4 of 2015 on private health facilities, amended by Federal Law No. 8 of 2023;
• Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 on information and communications technology in health fields;
• Ministerial Decision No. 888 of 2016 on prescribing and dispensing narcotic, controlled and semi-controlled medicines, alongside the federal narcotics law and its amendments.

The medical liability track is federal

The Medical Liability Decree-Law applies to anyone practising the profession in the State. Every medical-error complaint goes to the competent health authority, which refers it to a Medical Liability Committee; the committee must issue a reasoned report within 30 days of referral, extendable with the health authority's approval (Art. 19). Either side may file a grievance within 30 days of legal notification, decided by the Supreme Committee of Medical Liability, a federal committee with its office at MOHAP whose decision is final (Arts 20 and 21; Cabinet Resolution No. 14 of 2020). If no grievance is filed in time, the report becomes final. Which first-tier committee hears Sharjah cases under the new framework has not been published, so confirm it from your notice.

The same Decree-Law protects you during the case. A licence may be suspended for up to 30 days, renewable, while a report is pending (Art. 23), and no investigation, arrest or detention over a medical error may take place unless the health authority has issued a final report confirming a gross medical error (Art. 24).

The federal profession laws define your duties

Federal Law No. 5 of 2019 lets "the health authority", defined as the Ministry or any federal or local authority in charge of health affairs within its competence, impose a written notice, a written warning, a fine of AED 1,000 to 1,000,000, suspension of up to one year or revocation (Art. 28). Federal Law No. 6 of 2023 sets a separate scale for non-physician professions (Art. 13). How these federal penalties sit alongside the administrative penalties added to the Sharjah Resolution in 2026 has not been published in English. If a decision reaches you, note which instrument it cites, because the grievance rules differ between them.

Sharjah sits between two systems on paper, and a professional can receive correspondence from either.

• MOHAP's service "Complaints about private health facilities and their medical staff" still lists Sharjah among the emirates it covers, and MOHAP lists a representative office there.
• Resolution No. 29 of 2025 places Sharjah government establishments and private facilities in the emirate and its free zones under the SHA.
• Federal facilities in Sharjah are outside the Resolution and remain in the federal system.
• The SHA's e-services let professionals request a licence "authorizing them to work in a healthcare facility licensed by SHA", and renew, transfer or cancel it.

The practical test has two parts: which authority licensed the facility where the care took place, and which authority issued your professional licence. If both answers are the SHA, expect the SHA's committees. If either answer is MOHAP, read our MOHAP complaints guide as well, and ask both authorities in writing which one holds the file.

The SHA's professional e-services include licence renewal, transfer and cancellation, a "Request for Good standing Certificate", "Update Continuing Medical Education (CME) Points Data" and enrolment in a "Return-to-Work Program". The SHA has not published, in the sources we checked, how an open case affects any of them. Three points follow from the national rules and the services themselves.

• Good standing: the national PQR, which the SHA co-issues, describes a good standing certificate as evidence that the professional "has not been found guilty of professional misconduct and has no pending or previous disciplinary orders or criminal proceedings against them", and requires one not older than six months for a new licence application. A transfer to Dubai, Abu Dhabi or abroad while a Sharjah case is open is likely to raise questions, so declare the case honestly and ask the receiving authority how it will be treated.
• Return to work: the Return-to-Work Program appears in the SHA's list of services, but its eligibility criteria are not set out on the services page. If you are returning after a suspension, ask whether it applies to you or only to a gap in practice.
• CME record: keep your CME data up to date through the SHA service. SHA CME hour requirements were not found on an official page, and independent courses that the SHA has not accredited, including ours, may not be counted; ask the SHA before relying on any of them for renewal.

1. Ask for the written basis. Which committee holds the case, which article of Resolution No. 29 of 2025 or which federal law it relies on, and the date by which you must respond.
2. Ask what the committee holds. The complaint, the facility's report and the record extracts it will rely on. You cannot answer an allegation you have not seen.
3. Preserve the record exactly as it is. Federal rules require each action to be documented with its type, date and time (Cabinet Resolution No. 40 of 2019, Art. 2). Late additions must be clearly dated as late; earlier entries must not be changed.
4. Involve your insurer and, if needed, a lawyer. Civil liability insurance for medical errors is compulsory and is arranged and paid for by the facility owner (Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016, Arts 25 and 26). Check your policy for any notification rules.
5. Tell your facility. The 2026 amendment targets healthcare providers as well as individuals, so the facility may face its own questions about the same events.
6. Prepare your account. A chronology, the standard or guideline you were applying, what you would do differently and what you have already changed.
7. Treat every deadline as short. Federal penalty grievances run for 15 days and liability-report grievances for 30. Until the SHA tells you its own grievance period in writing, plan to act well within the shorter one.

Whatever procedure the SHA applies, a learning record is most useful when it answers three questions a decision-maker will ask: do you understand what went wrong, what specifically have you changed, and why should anyone believe the change will last?

• Understanding: a course on the subject of the concern, chosen from the table above, completed with a passed assessment.
• Change: a short note of the concrete changes to your practice, such as a new consent template, a prescribing checklist or a habit of documenting discussions at the time.
• Durability: a reflective account that links the learning to your own case, for example through Developing Insight or Reflective Practice, and a plan for supervision or audit if your employer can offer one.

Keep the record proportionate. Two or three relevant courses with a thoughtful reflection carry more weight than a long list of unrelated certificates.