Muscat: Working hours for the government primary healthcare institutions have been extended to 9.30 pm on week days, a senior official of the Ministry of Health said.

The hospitals, however, will provide healthcare services round the clock.

Mohammad bin Suleiman Al-Ghafri, Head of the Health Centres Affairs department at the General Directorate of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health, said the decision to organise work at the health centres has been subjected to a number of criteria, including their categorisation into four groups, namely, A, B, C and D.

He continued: “Two basic criteria were considered while classifying the health centres, the first of which is the location of the health centre (whether within the city or in a mountainous area) and second, the availability of beds, inpatient services and childbirth, determining the working hours at these centres.”