Choose your country edition
New Zealand United States Canada Singapore United Arab Emirates All countriesPatient safety and medicines
Safeguarding course for UAE healthcare professionals: recognising and reporting abuse of children, older people and adults at risk
Licensed doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists and allied health staff who may meet children, older people or adults at risk in any emirate, including those reflecting on a safeguarding concern about their own practice.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a licensing authority inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
A nurse treating a toddler's burn, a pharmacist noticing an older man's missed medicines, a doctor seeing the same woman for a third unexplained injury: clinicians are frequently the first outsiders to glimpse harm happening at home. In the UAE, that position comes with legal duties. Federal Law No. (3) of 2016 on Child Rights (Wadeema), Federal Decree-Law No. (13) of 2024 on protection from domestic violence and Federal Law No. (9) of 2019 on the rights of Senior Emiratis each expect concerns to be reported, and Federal Decree-Law No. (4) of 2016 allows patient information to be disclosed to report or prevent a crime. Failing to act can lead to penalties under these laws as well as disciplinary action by your licensing authority.
This course makes those duties workable on a busy shift. It shows how to judge whether an injury in a child fits the history, development and timing; recognise physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and exploitation; ask about domestic violence safely; and identify the right route for older people and adults at risk, including older expatriates who fall outside the Senior Emiratis law. It then covers listening to a disclosure without steering the account or promising to keep it secret, making a prompt report, the DOH child protection pathway in Abu Dhabi and how routes differ in Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, objective safeguarding notes, passing information only to those who need it, and raising the alarm when the worry involves a colleague or your own facility.
The course is for doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists and allied health staff licensed by the DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SHA or in Dubai Healthcare City, from emergency departments and primary care to school clinics, community pharmacies and home care. It suits clinicians new to the country, anyone working across emirates and the leads who train others. If a safeguarding concern was missed, delayed or handled poorly, the final section helps you understand the criminal, disciplinary and liability consequences and build an account of insight and remediation that shows what you will now do differently.
When a review finds that signs of abuse or neglect were missed, or that a concern was noticed but not reported, a professional can face questions from the facility, the licensing authority and, because federal laws carry reporting duties, potentially the criminal process. This course helps you show that you now understand the child rights, domestic violence and Senior Emiratis laws, the reporting route for your emirate, why confidentiality is not a barrier and how to record a concern so it can be acted on.
The certificate records two hours (estimated) on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, with the date you finished. The reflective account, built from four prompts, asks you to test the course against a case you have actually seen and talk it through with your safeguarding lead. That discussion, and a note of the route you will use next time, gives a reviewer concrete evidence of change. For renewal, your licensing authority decides how any learning counts towards your CPD or a requirement it has set.
What you will have at the end
Three visits, three explanations
Consider, for illustration, a general practitioner and a nurse in a primary care centre in Sharjah. A woman attends three times in four months with a wrist injury, then bruising said to be from a fall, then headaches and poor sleep. Each visit is brief, her husband is always in the room, and the notes record only the injury and treatment.
On the fourth visit she is admitted to hospital with serious injuries, and police become involved. The facility's review finds that no one asked about safety, no one saw her alone, and no one connected the earlier visits. Staff say they assumed it was a private family matter and were unsure whether reporting would breach confidentiality. The review also asks whether the federal reporting duty was met.
The course addresses each gap. Section 2 sets out the domestic violence law's reporting duty and why confidentiality does not prevent a report. Section 4 covers presentations that should prompt a question, how to ask safely and how to respond. Section 5 gives a reporting process for any emirate. Section 6 shows how to write records that let others see the pattern.
Illustrative example, not a real case.
10 sections · 17 lessons · 2 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
Completed12 Oct 2026The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Yes. Wadeema places reporting duties on professionals who become aware of a child at risk, and healthcare staff are among those most likely to see the signs. Section 2 sets out who must report, to whom and what protection exists for people who report in good faith, and Section 5 covers how to make the report.
No, when it is done properly. Federal Decree-Law No. (4) of 2016 allows disclosure of patient information to report or prevent a crime, and the safeguarding laws expect reports to be made. Lesson 5.2 covers what to share, with whom, and how to record your reasons.
The Senior Emiratis law protects older Emirati citizens. Older expatriates are not covered by it, but other routes can apply, including the domestic violence law and general criminal and safeguarding procedures. Lesson 4.2 explains how to identify the right route for each patient.
No. The federal duties apply everywhere, but the pathway differs. Abu Dhabi has a DOH child protection pathway, and Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates have their own arrangements. Lesson 2.2 compares them, which is useful if you hold licences in more than one emirate.
Do not promise secrecy. Listen, reassure the child that telling was right, avoid leading questions, explain that you need to tell people who can help, and record their words as closely as you can. Lesson 5.1 works through disclosures from children and adults.
It is designed to help you understand what was expected, why it may have been missed and what you will do differently, and Lesson 7.2 covers accountability and remediation after a safeguarding failure. It can help you show insight and learning; any decision rests with your facility and licensing authority.
After roughly 2 hours of study and a 20-question scenario test (80% to pass), you receive a certificate for 2 hours (estimated) and a structured reflective account. Your licensing authority decides how any learning counts towards your CPD or a requirement it has set.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: UAE federal health laws, the licensing authorities' codes, standards and policies, and official government guidance. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
When to share, when to refuse and how to respond to a breach: UAE health data law, disclosure gateways, health information exchanges, messaging apps and third-party requests.
Records that hold up when someone else reads them: what to write, consent and refusal, labelled late entries, template pitfalls, reports, sick notes, retention and keeping the file intact.
Roles and delegation, communication in multilingual teams, briefings and debriefs, ISBAR handover, speaking up, conflict and concerns about colleagues, with UAE case studies.
