KUWAIT CITY, Jan 6: The Ministry of Health faced significant disruptions during the rollout of its new smartphone-based fingerprint attendance system, creating confusion across various departments and sectors, reports Al-Seyassah daily. The technical issues, which surfaced within the first hours of implementation, left many employees, including technicians and doctors, struggling to confirm their attendance.

According to informed sources, the malfunction impacted 95 percent of the ministry’s facilities, leaving entire departments in some hospitals unable to register attendance through the smart fingerprint system. This prompted a scramble for alternative solutions, with department heads turning to paper attendance lists to record the presence of doctors and other staff. Administrative employees were able to substitute the smart fingerprint system with the traditional entry and exit fingerprint devices, but this option was not viable for doctors, who are not enrolled in the fingerprint attendance system. As a result, doctors had to rely on manual documentation to verify their attendance.

The situation caused significant congestion, particularly at the Attendance Control Department within the Ministry’s General Office. The rush to address the issue stretched from 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM, with technicians and engineers called in to manage the technical challenges. Hospital directors, in coordination with department heads, quickly mobilized to mitigate the disruption by preparing paper attendance lists. These lists served as an interim measure to ensure that work schedules and staff availability could still be monitored despite the system failures. The chaotic rollout underscores the challenges of transitioning to advanced attendance systems in critical sectors such as healthcare, where disruptions can directly affect patient care. The Ministry of Health is expected to review the technical glitches and ensure smoother operations as the system is fine-tuned.