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A DHA home healthcare license is the Dubai Health Authority facility license that allows a provider to deliver nursing, medical and therapy services in a patient home. The core requirements in 2026 are a medical director, at least one physician and one registered nurse, a registered nurse to assistant nurse ratio of one to three, a face to face physician assessment before care starts, and a full set of written clinical policies. This guide covers the requirements, the application process, the rules that apply after the license is issued and the mistakes that cause rejections.
What is a DHA home healthcare license?
It is a facility license, not a personal one. The Dubai Health Authority licenses the organisation that provides care at home, and every clinician working under it needs a separate DHA professional license. A standalone home healthcare facility is one of the license categories, but hospitals, outpatient clinics, diagnostic centres, TCAM centres, clinical support facilities and long term residential facilities can also be approved to provide home healthcare services under the same DHA standards.
The rules that apply are set out in the DHA Standards for Home Healthcare Services. They cover who you must employ, how often patients must be seen, how records are kept and what equipment you may use.
DHA home healthcare license requirements in 2026
These are the requirements that decide whether an application passes or fails. They are the ones DHA inspectors check on site.
| Requirement | What DHA expects |
|---|---|
| Medical director | A named supervisor who is responsible for the policies and procedures of the facility |
| Minimum staff | At least one physician and one registered nurse employed by the facility |
| Nurse ratio | One registered nurse for every three assistant nurses |
| Professional licenses | Every clinician holds a valid DHA license for the exact scope of practice they deliver at home |
| Written policies | Patient acceptance, assessment, care planning, records, confidentiality, infection control, waste, incidents, emergencies, medication management, telehealth, discharge and transfer |
| Transport | The facility arranges and pays for transport of staff to home visits and is responsible for their safety |
| Premises | An administrative office that follows the DHA health facility design guidelines, with the license publicly displayed |
| Equipment | All medical equipment approved by MOHAP and safety tested with documented records before use |
| Accreditation | Standalone home healthcare and home dialysis facilities are expected to be accredited within two years of licensing |
Which staff can a home healthcare facility employ?
Beyond the mandatory physician and registered nurse, the multidisciplinary team may include dentists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, respiratory therapists, speech therapists, psychologists and social workers. Each of them needs their own DHA license and can only deliver what that license covers.
Assistant nurses may work in patient homes, but never unsupervised in the sense of being left without oversight. The registered nurse checks in virtually and in person on a schedule set by patient acuity.
- Higher acuity patients: a virtual check in every day and an in person visit every week
- Lower acuity patients: a virtual check in weekly or every two weeks and an in person visit every two weeks to monthly
How to apply for a DHA home healthcare license step by step
- Decide the legal form and get the trade licence activity for home healthcare services from the Department of Economy and Tourism.
- Apply for DHA initial approval for the facility through the Sheryan portal, with the owner details, the intended services and the proposed medical director.
- Submit the premises layout of the administrative office for design approval against the DHA health facility design guidelines.
- Register the medical director and the minimum staff, each with a valid DHA professional license.
- Upload the policy and procedure manual covering every area listed in the standards. This is the step where most applications stall.
- Book the DHA inspection of the office, the records system and the equipment.
- Receive the facility license, display it at the central administrative office and start operating.
- Plan for accreditation within two years if you are a standalone home healthcare facility.
The full DHA facility route, including the document list that applies to every facility type, is set out on our page about the DHA facility license in Dubai.
What does a DHA home healthcare license cost and how long does it take?
DHA does not publish one flat price for a home healthcare license. The total is built from the initial approval fee, the facility license fee for your category, the per professional license fees for the medical director and every clinician, and the trade licence and premises costs, which sit outside DHA entirely. Fees are shown in Sheryan at the moment you submit each step, so check them there rather than relying on a figure from a third party site.
On timing, plan for three to six months from trade licence to operating license. The DHA stages themselves are not the slow part. Recruiting a medical director who is licensed and available, and writing a policy manual that survives inspection, are what usually set the pace.
Rules that apply after the license is issued
The license is only the start. These are the operating rules inspectors return to, and breaking them is what puts a renewal at risk.
- A qualified physician must assess the patient face to face before any home healthcare service is delivered. A phone triage does not replace it.
- The care plan is written by the treating physician together with the interdisciplinary team, not by the nurse alone.
- Signed general consent must be in place before services begin, from the patient, the guardian or the substitute consent giver.
- Medical records are documented electronically within twenty four hours of the visit and signed electronically.
- All medical equipment carries MOHAP approval and a documented safety test.
Requirements for healthcare professionals working in home healthcare
Clinicians need a DHA professional license in their own category before they can work for a home healthcare provider. On renewal, the CPD rules under the home healthcare standards are the standard DHA ones: forty CPD hours per year for physicians and twenty CPD hours per year for nurses.
If you are still at the licensing stage yourself, start with the professional qualification requirements for your profession, and read how CME points in the UAE are counted before your first renewal.
Why DHA home healthcare license applications get rejected
- The policy manual is generic. It was copied from another provider and does not describe how this facility actually works.
- No named medical director, or a medical director whose own DHA license is pending.
- The nurse to assistant nurse ratio does not hold once the planned patient list is applied.
- Equipment on the list has no MOHAP approval or no safety test record.
- No documented transport arrangement for staff home visits.
- Scope of service applied for is wider than what the licensed staff can legally deliver.
Home healthcare license in Dubai Healthcare City
Dubai Healthcare City is a free zone with its own regulator, so a provider based there is licensed under the DHCC standards for licensed home healthcare services rather than by DHA. The clinical requirements are close to identical, but the application, the fees and the inspection go through the free zone authority. Choose the jurisdiction before you sign a lease, because moving afterwards means a new license, not a transfer.
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