An otolaryngologist has called upon the Ministry of Health to open an investigation to find out why Al-Namas Hospital administration did not let treat a young man who was brought to the hospital in a critical case.

Dr. Ali Al-Shehri, who is also a professor at the Faculty of Medicine, King Khalid University, said the young man’s father called him and told him that his son had sustained nose bleeding and fracture.

After he got the call, Dr. Ali headed immediately to Al-Namas Hospital. He was in Abha city and had to drive 200 km to get there. On his way, he called the hospital asking them to do some medical checkups for the young man. To his surprise, when he got there, he found the young man lying on a bed at the emergency section writhing in pain. No medical checkups were done and the operating theater was not prepared.

When he asked them about the reason, they said the medical director refused to admit the young man and requested that the patient should go to Asir Central Hospital. Al-Shehri called the medical director and asked him for permission to operate on the young man but the medical director refused and asked Al-Shehri to carry out the operation at Asir Central Hospital or ask the Arab doctor at Al-Namas Hospital to operate on the young man. The patient’s relative took the patient and left the hospital.

Al-Shehri volunteers at Al-Namas Hospital and has performed 600 operations since 2003, all free.

“It’s a sad thing that the medical director refused my request to operate on the patient. I hope pertinent authorities will intervene and take action,” he said.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette called the medical director but he refused to comment.

Asir Health Affairs spokesman Abdulaziz Al-Shayeh said Al-Shehri is a volunteer doctor and has not been called officially by the hospital to operate on the patient, besides the patient’s condition was not critical and did not require any surgical intervention. The emergency doctor of Al-Namas Hospital examined the patient and decided that his condition was stable and it was not a life-or-death situation, Al-Shayeh said.

Al-Shayeh said Al-Namas Hospital follows strict medical protocols and procedures that cannot be violated. Besides, the hospital applies the highest standards of medical care to ensure safety of all patients, he added.

SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE