A hotel-room doctor visit from Nightingale

Why it is on the list

Nightingale has held a Dubai Health Authority licence as a private home care provider since 2016; it was founded by Anna Mellor, a nurse trained at Birmingham University.¹ It has more than 300 healthcare professionals and works with more than 250 hotels.² The hotel service sends a DHA-licensed, English-speaking doctor to the room at any hour, weekends and holidays included, who examines, treats and prescribes there and arranges for the medication to be delivered to the hotel.³ Doctors usually arrive 30 to 45 minutes after the booking is confirmed, depending on traffic and where in Dubai you are.⁴ It has its own polyclinic with a laboratory in Al Ameri Tower, Barsha Heights, for anything that needs a clinic.⁵

It is the wrong call for chest pain, heavy bleeding or trouble breathing: go to the nearest emergency department.³ For a named specialist during the day, Valiant Clinic in City Walk is the better choice.

How to get it

Call the toll-free line, 800 UAE (800 823), or +971 4 320 3847 from outside the UAE; the service also answers on +971 56 168 0391 and books online.⁶⁴ Give the hotel name, room number and symptoms.³ Ask for a doctor at the hotel; a nurse can come too.⁴ Fees depend on the time of the visit and the treatment, so ask for the rate when you call.³ Nightingale works with most travel and health insurers, or you can pay for the visit yourself; check your cover when booking.³

Discretion

You are seen in your own room, not in a clinic waiting room, and prescriptions come to the hotel.³