Speaker Jassem al-Khorafi set March 5 as a date to vote on the motion which if passed will dismiss Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family.

To pass, the motion requires a simple majority of 25 MPs in the 50-seat parliament.

Sheikh Ahmad is accused by some opposition MPs of being responsible for "grave medical errors that led to the death of several patients" as well as of financial and administrative wrongdoings.

He was appointed health minister less than two years ago after his predecessor Mohammad al-Jarallah resigned after a similar grilling by parliament.

MPs charged that the standard of public medical services in Kuwait had deteriorated under Sheikh Ahmad.

Citizens in this oil-rich Gulf state are entitled to free medical care while foreign residents pay annual health insurance.