‘Unannounced visit to health insurance department reveals shortcomings’

AMMAN — Teams from the Public Sector Development Ministry recently carried out unannounced visits to the health insurance department affiliated with the Health Ministry to evaluate the quality of services offered to the public.

During visits on October 12 and 13, the specialists in the field of developing government services recorded negative observations in their report, which was made available to The Jordan Times. 

The report indicated that several people seeking services at the department were unhappy with the quality of services offered, complaining of the long wait and the unclear measures required to complete their transactions. 

The specialists also noticed that some department employees used their position and influence to complete the transactions of some people at the expense of others. 

The ministry’s report also revealed that a female employee refused to serve visitors and left her desk, shouting “call the director general to come here because I don’t want to work anymore.” 

Department staff were not using the queue management system although the facility is equipped with one, the report said, adding that employees were serving customers haphazardly instead. 

Windows at the service counters were not according to standards, as they were “very low”, forcing customers to bend down or sit on the floor to be able to talk to service providers.

The inspection team said neither the department director nor the supervisor were available to help reduce the number of people crowding the offices and waiting for services. 

No special boxes for complaints were available at the premises, and the department also lacked a special office for customer service despite the fact that tens of people were inquiring about how and where to apply for services, the report said. 

The visit to the health insurance department is part of a series of unannounced visits carried out by the Public Sector Development Ministry to government agencies in an attempt to evaluate their services.