Clinic License Qatar: How MOPH Health Facility Licensing Works

Qatar licenses the place and the people separately. The healthcare facility licence, issued through MOPH's Health Facilities Department, authorises a clinic to operate. The practitioner licence, issued by the Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP), authorises an individual doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist or allied health professional to practise. Holding one does not give you the other: a licensed doctor cannot open a clinic on the strength of a DHP licence, and a licensed clinic cannot employ anyone who lacks one. DHP's circular on medical directors requires that every health practitioner working in the facility holds a valid licence to practise issued by MOPH, and that copies of the facility's licence and its practitioners' licences are displayed in a prominent place. For the practitioner side, see our Qatar (DHP) licensing guide.

• Facility licence: MOPH Health Facilities Department — lets the clinic operate
• Practitioner licence: DHP — lets each individual practise
• Both licences must be displayed prominently in the facility

MOPH's Health Facilities Department describes obtaining a healthcare facility licence as three stages: facility registration, preliminary evaluation, and final evaluation. Once registration is complete and the preliminary approval letter for the activity has been issued, the investor applies for approval of the engineering drawings. Since April 2026 that application is made electronically through the Ministry of Municipality's Building Permit System, where authorised engineers review the drawings, comment on them and approve them; previously it had to be submitted in person at the Health Facilities Department. After the drawings are approved, the process moves to final evaluation, which leads to the issuance of the healthcare facility licence.

• Stage 1 — Facility registration with MOPH
• Stage 2 — Preliminary evaluation: the preliminary approval letter for the activity, then engineering drawing approval through the Building Permit System
• Stage 3 — Final evaluation, leading to the healthcare facility licence

DHP circular DHP/2024/12, issued on 21 April 2024 to all private healthcare facilities, sets out the medical director's role. The medical director must be licensed to practise medicine in Qatar — or licensed as a dentist, in specialised dental facilities only — and must keep practising while in the role, appoint a deputy when absent and inform MOPH of that appointment. The same circular makes the medical director responsible for ensuring the facility licence is valid and renewed well before it expires, and that every unit, including its equipment, tools and devices, holds the necessary MOPH approvals.

A facility licence is granted for approved activities, and the clinic has to stay inside them. Under circular DHP/2024/12, every department or unit must meet the minimum number of specialists required for its approved activities, or close temporarily until it does. All clinical services must be defined and priced within the approved scope of services and according to the approved pricelist, and each practitioner must work within their approved scope of practice and granted privileges. MOPH enforces this: it has closed private facilities for providing services before obtaining their licence and approvals, and for falling below the minimum number of specialists.

We could not verify a published MOPH document checklist, fee schedule or standard processing time for a clinic licence, so this guide does not give one. Requirements vary by facility type and approved activity, and MOPH has said that timeframes differ by application type. Confirm the current requirements, fees and timeline with the MOPH Health Facilities Department, or through the MOPH Health Licensing portal, before you commit to premises, a lease or a fit-out — the engineering drawings are approved as part of the licence, not after it.

A clinic cannot open its doors until the people in it are licensed too, and that is the part OnClick Healthcare handles. We take doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals through DHP licensing — DataFlow verification, the DHP evaluation, the qualifying exam and activation — so your staffing is ready when your facility licence is. For a pharmacy-led service, see our Pharmacy License Qatar guide.