Seeing a specialist at Hamad: referrals, booking and changing HMC appointments

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) runs Qatar's main public hospitals and their specialist outpatient clinics. For non-emergency problems you cannot simply walk into an HMC specialist clinic: you need a referral, and HMC then gives you an appointment. Most residents are referred by their PHCC family doctor, which happens electronically, but a referral from a private clinic or hospital can also be uploaded online. After that HMC's booking team calls you with a date, and you manage the appointment through the Nesma'ak helpline (16060) or HMC's Lbaih app. This guide starts once you are registered for public healthcare and walks through the order of things: referral, the call, preparing for the visit, changing or cancelling in time, and follow-up.

Before you start

• A valid QID: since April 2026 it is what you show at HMC instead of a health card.
• An active public health registration (health number) for the patient, renewed and in date.
• The mobile number linked to your health registration, kept up to date, because HMC calls and texts that number.
• A Tawtheeq (National Authentication System) login so you can use the Lbaih app.
• For a private doctor's referral: the signed and stamped referral form, as a clear scan or photo, dated within the last six months.
• Previous reports, scans, test results and a list of your current medicines, ideally in their original packs.
• A credit or debit card: HMC clinics do not accept cash.
• For appointments at the Women's Wellness and Research Center: copies of the husband's passport and QID and of the marriage certificate.

Step by step

1. Start with your PHCC family doctor

   For most residents the route to an HMC specialist begins at the PHCC health centre linked to your home address. The family doctor examines you, treats what can be treated there, and refers you to HMC if you need a specialist. The referral is normally sent to HMC electronically, so you do not carry a paper form. Ask the doctor which specialty you have been referred to and whether it was marked as urgent, because that decides how soon you are seen. Your health registration must be active, or you may be asked to renew before you are seen.

   Read guide: Get your health card (now linked to your QID) →

2. Know when not to wait for an appointment

   Specialist clinics are for planned care, not emergencies. Chest pain, severe bleeding, breathing problems or a serious injury need an emergency department or 999. For less serious problems that cannot wait for a referral, some PHCC health centres run 24-hour urgent care, and HMC's 16000 helpline has an urgent telephone consultation with a doctor. If your symptoms get worse while you wait for a specialist date, go back to your family doctor or an emergency department rather than waiting.

   Read guide: Emergencies in Qatar: who to call and where to go →

3. Upload a private doctor's referral online

   If a private clinic or hospital referred you to HMC, you send the paper referral yourself through the Nesma'ak Patient Portal on hamad.qa, found in the Contact section. Choose Inside Qatar, enter the patient's health card number, then type the one-time password (OTP) sent to the mobile number linked to that registration. Check the details shown and upload the referral as a clear scan. You get a message that the referral was received, and the booking team contacts you after it has been reviewed.

4. Make sure the referral will be accepted

   HMC rejects referrals that are not on a proper referral form, have no doctor's signature or details, are missing the patient's name or health card number, are in an unsupported file format, or are more than six months old. It also rejects referrals for conditions HMC does not treat; its handbook gives paediatric haematology and paediatric urology as examples, which are handled elsewhere. Before you leave the private clinic, check that the form is complete, signed and stamped, and names the specialty and the reason. If a referral is rejected, contact your PHCC centre on 107 or go back to the referring doctor.

5. Wait for HMC's call and answer it

   After the referral is triaged, HMC's booking team phones the number on your health registration to offer a date, time and clinic, and checks your identity with your name, date of birth or QID. They try on three different days; if they cannot reach you, the request is closed, though you can still call 16060 to book while the referral is valid. Answer calls from unknown numbers while you wait. Suspected cancer referrals are urgent: you should get a call within two working days of triage. HMC says the average wait for a first specialist appointment fell from 58 days to about 16 days in the first half of 2026, but the actual wait depends on the specialty and how urgent your case is.

6. Chase a referral that has gone quiet

   If you have heard nothing, call Nesma'ak on 16060 and ask for the status of your referral. Have the patient's QID ready, and know which specialty and which doctor referred you. If HMC has no record of a referral from PHCC, call 107 or visit your health centre to check that it was sent. For an urgent suspected cancer referral, call 16060 if no call has come within two working days.

7. Install Lbaih to see your appointments

   Lbaih is HMC's patient app, launched in July 2025. You register with Tawtheeq and can then turn on fingerprint or face login. It shows your upcoming appointments and sends reminders, lets you request a reschedule or cancellation, and shows lab results, prescriptions and radiology reports once the doctor has approved them. Lbaih cannot book your first specialist appointment: that is only arranged after HMC reviews a referral. A reschedule or cancellation request is not confirmed straight away; HMC contacts you.

8. Confirm, change or cancel in time

   HMC sends text reminders five days and one day before the appointment. Since July 2026 you can confirm the appointment in Lbaih during the 48 hours before it, but once that window opens the app no longer lets you cancel or reschedule, so you must call 16060 instead. If you cannot attend, tell HMC as early as possible so the slot goes to someone else. Missing appointments has consequences: after a first missed follow-up you get a text asking you to call 16060, and after a second the request is cancelled and you need a new referral from PHCC or a consultation through 16000. HMC may also move your appointment itself if a doctor's schedule changes, so read every text it sends.

9. Prepare for the day of the appointment

   Check the hospital, building and clinic named in your confirmation, because HMC has many sites, such as the Ambulatory Care Center, Hamad General Hospital, Heart Hospital and Al Wakra Hospital. Arrive about 30 minutes early; on a first visit go to the registration desk, and on follow-ups to the outpatient reception. Bring your QID, any referral letter, previous reports and your medicines. If the visit is chargeable you pay at check-in by card or electronic payment; ask at the desk before planned tests or procedures if you are unsure what you will pay. If you need help with language or mobility, contact the clinic before the day.

10. Book the follow-up before you leave

    If the specialist wants to see you again, book the follow-up at the clinic before you go home, or call 16060 later. A follow-up several months away is often the interval the doctor chose, not a backlog. Your case stays open for a year from your last visit; after that you need a new referral. Results and reports appear in Lbaih when they are approved, and prescription refills with home delivery can be requested in Lbaih or through 16000 for a small fee.

    Read guide: Getting medicines in Qatar: prescriptions, 24-hour pharmacies and home delivery →

11. Consider the private route if you have insurance

    If your employer gives you health insurance, you can also see a specialist at a private hospital or clinic in your insurer's network, which is often quicker. Check your policy first: some plans need a GP referral or the insurer's pre-approval for specialist visits or tests, and most have a co-payment. A private specialist can later refer you to HMC if you need a service only HMC provides, using the online upload above. Using private care does not cancel an HMC referral, so cancel the HMC appointment if you no longer need it.

    Read guide: Health insurance in Qatar: what residents and visitors need →

What it costs

Official fees at the time of review. Fees change, so confirm before paying.

Common mistakes

• Turning up at an HMC specialist clinic without a referral and a confirmed appointment; you will be sent back to your health centre.
• Ignoring calls from unknown numbers after a referral; HMC tries three times on different days and then closes the request.
• Letting the phone number on your health registration go out of date, so the calls, OTPs and reminder texts never reach you.
• Uploading a private referral that is unsigned, unstamped, incomplete or more than six months old.
• Waiting until the last day to cancel in Lbaih; in the 48 hours before the visit you can only confirm in the app, and changes go through 16060.
• Missing two appointments in a row, which cancels the request and sends you back to the start for a new referral.
• Letting the annual health registration lapse while waiting for the appointment.
• Waiting at home for a specialist date when symptoms are getting worse instead of going back to the doctor or to emergency.

Questions people ask

Official sources

• HMC: Outpatient Handbook (referrals, booking, missed appointments) ↗
• HMC: new Lbaih services, confirming appointments within 48 hours (Jul 2026) ↗
• QNA: HMC launches the Lbaih app (Jul 2025) ↗
• The Peninsula: HMC cuts specialist wait from 58 days to 16 (Aug 2026) ↗
• HMC: online submission of private referrals ↗
• The Peninsula: private hospital referrals for Qatari patients (Jul 2025) ↗

Always check the official source before acting. QatarSteps is independent and not a government website.

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