Expert and consultant in therapeutic and community nutrition Modhi al-Hajri has called for a unified national platform to issue and transmit sick-leave certificates electronically, arguing that the system would strengthen document security, streamline administration and support Qatar’s wider digital transformation.
In an interview with *Gulf Times, al-Hajri said that sick leave should be treated as an official record tied to employees’ rights, workplace discipline and the protection of public funds.
"With Qatar’s continuing digital transformation, an important question arises: why do some organisations still rely on paper certificates when electronic systems have proved successful elsewhere in the public health sector?” she asked.
Employees of the Hamad Medical Corporation and Primary Health Care Corporation already have sick-leave certificates transmitted directly to human-resources systems, eliminating paper submission and manual review.
Other government bodies and schools, however, continue to process certificates by hand, creating inconsistent procedures and greater exposure to document fraud.
Al-Hajri noted that sick leave may only be issued by an authorised physician, including a family doctor, emergency physician or specialist.
Protecting the certificate after it is issued is therefore as important as verifying its source, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) tools make document manipulation easier.
She proposed a national electronic platform linked to each person’s identification number.
Sick leave certificates QatarHealth institutions would send certificates directly to employers’ human-resources departments or, in the case of students, to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the relevant school, removing the need for employees, students or guardians to carry paper copies.
Beyond curbing fraud, al-Hajri said, the system could speed up processing, standardise government services, reduce paper use and ease administrative workloads.
A secure national database, she added, could also support health and workforce planning while preserving the confidentiality of medical information.
Periodic, anonymised reporting could help authorities track sick-leave trends, plan services and identify unusual patterns for review.
Al-Hajri said that any use of AI should be governed by safeguards that protect employees’ rights and personal data.
The proposed platform could later expand to other types of official leave, including maternity and paternity leave, leave to accompany a patient, and absences related to workplace injuries, creating an integrated national system for managing government leave.
"True digital transformation is not simply about putting services online; it is about building connected systems that prevent tampering, protect official records, save time and strengthen public confidence,” al-Hajri said. "A government document should not be carried by hand when it can be transmitted securely through a digital system.”