Dubai Health Authority awarded 2021’s Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme for Government Services Flag for pioneering ‘Dubai Health Shield’ Initiative

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, has awarded the prestigious Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme for Government Services Flag to Dubai Health Authority (DHA) for winning the Best Government Initiative award for its ‘Dubai Health Shield’ initiative.

The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme recognises pioneering initiatives across government establishments, underpinning the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to ensure that government services contribute to making Dubai the world’s greatest city.

DHA was announced as a winner at the Hamdan Hub 2021, organised by the Dubai Model Centre, affiliated to the General Secretariat of The Executive Council.

Congratulating DHA, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said: “We congratulate the Dubai Health Authority for winning the Hamdan Flag. It is a well-deserved recognition for the Authority’s continued efforts to improve and innovate its services. Dubai is a role model in providing creative, innovative and high-quality government services in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Our future vision is driven by the competencies of our teams whose exemplary commitment to improving public services contributes significantly to making Dubai a global benchmark for service innovation. I express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the participating entities, who continue to provide services that ease people’s lives.”

His Highness also appreciated the community contributions that emerged through the wide participation of customers of various Dubai government services voting for the nine nominated initiatives.

His Highness added: “We fundamentally believe that the community plays a vital role and is a strong partner in Dubai’s development. Therefore, Dubai Government has opened various communication channels to receive regular feedback and inputs from customers on services provided by government establishments. Our priority is to fulfill their needs and aspirations for Dubai. The active participation of the public in government work has continued to enhance our position as one of the best global cities in providing seamless, integrated, proactive, and customised government services that cater to the welfare and happiness of everyone residing in the Emirate.”

Proactive innovation

His Excellency Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary General of The Executive Council of Dubai, said: “Since its launch 12 years ago, the Dubai Model Centre has made qualitative progress in government services. This was achieved through the implementation of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum which emphasise on raising service efficiency and enhancing customer centricity. The roadmap placed the customers at the heart of the design process of government services to ensure the customers’ needs and expectations are met.”

Al Basti added: “Our role in supporting government entities will continue to improve the quality of government services, so that we can provide an exceptional experience for everyone who resides in and visits Dubai. Our mission through the newly launched 360 Services Policy ensures the provision of proactive, integrated, and seamless services with efficiency and effectiveness for individuals and businesses. We are committed to continuously improve government work and to be a government that serves its people.”

Eman Al Suwaidi, Senior Director of Dubai Model Centre, said: “The partnership between the government and the community remains a cornerstone of our work. We are pleased to see members of the public actively vote for their most used service initiatives that contributed towards making their experience easy and seamless, be it individual or business services. Our congratulations to the Dubai Health Authority for receiving the Flag of Hamdan bin Mohammed Programme for Government Services for 2021. We also extend our gratitude and appreciation to all participating government entities, whose continuous improvement raised the efficiency of government services in Dubai.”

The Dubai Health Shield Initiative

The Dubai Health Shield initiative introduced by DHA was voted the best government initiative by the public and a jury of 17 experts across 11 countries. Nine initiatives were shortlisted out of which 26 reached the final stage of the competition.

DHA will now fly the flag of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Programme for Government outside its headquarters for one year, until the next edition of the programme.

Nominated Initiatives

Nominated initiatives included the Lost and Found System by Dubai Police; Dubai Municipality’s My Food initiative; Dubai Courts’ Proactive Precautionary Attachment initiative; the ESTIJABA initiative by the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services; RTA’s Click and Drive initiative; the Smart Transformation initiative for financial benefits by the Community Development Authority; DEWA’s Green Charger initiative; and Golden Visa initiative by General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai.

Global Standards

The winning initiative was selected based on criteria that measured the efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and commitment to the government’s pioneering approach. A committee of expert jury members evaluated the submissions before the customer voting phase. Criteria for selection of the best initiative were based on many assessment benchmarks and methodologies including the quality of services, ease of use, and performance and simplicity, among others.

The involvement of customers in evaluating the initiatives and contributing to their improvement is aligned with the leadership’s vision that places people at the heart of service development, and keeps their well-being, happiness and satisfaction at the top of priorities.

This is part of the Dubai Model Centre’s efforts to enhance the level of government services in Dubai, and take it to unprecedented levels, as part of the goal of making the Emirate one of the best in the world. This will also enable government entities to improve the level of services provided to individuals and society and raise it to an international level, in line with the mission of the Government of Dubai, which works on designing its services by involving various members of society in creating and evaluating these services.

Source: H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum