الأخطاء الطبية. وخطورة المستشفيات.Medical mistakes. the dangers of hospitals.

Mansour Al-Baqami - Majid Al-Sharbi - Manahi Sultan - Taif

Sunday 04/04/2010

The inside is missing, and the outside is born. This is how many auditors see the situation in hospitals now in light of what they hear about the large number of medical errors, which talk about has turned into a source of terror for many patients in light of more than half a million operations being performed annually, as confirmed by the statistics of the Ministry of Health. The truth is that this obsession no longer haunts those who are about to undergo major surgeries, but rather everyone, even those who desire emergency treatment, as urgent intervention and a decisive decision may be required that may lead to catastrophic results. On the other hand, the Ministry of Health asserts that the rate of medical errors in the Kingdom is normal and that they occur all over the world and cannot be completely prevented. On the other hand, academics and citizens believe that there are several factors that have led to an increase in medical errors, the most prominent of which is the continuous negligence of some doctors and technicians and the expansion of medical insurance. While many are looking forward to the symposium that is being held today on medical errors, a plan for the ministry to reduce the errors, others believe that the matter is conditional on restructuring procedures and reducing burdens on doctors who are obligated by most private sector hospitals to “target money” monthly.

bitter experience

The citizen, Dasman Hussein Al-Subaie, said: His daughter had a tumor in her right leg, and he referred her to a family clinic in Rania governorate. After examining her, the doctor confirmed the suspicion of a broken leg and put the splint on her. After 3 days, she noticed a change in the color of the skin around the cast, with the increase in pain that she complains about and when trying to remove it. I noticed that the cast was sticking to the skin, which increased my fear and made me transfer it to one of the advanced hospitals in the city of Jeddah. When it was removed, the skin of the leg peeled off, and it became clear that my child had gangrene and that she was not suffering from a semi-fracture in her leg, but from a tumor as a result of her playing and having fun. He added: If I had not paid attention to the changes that occurred in my daughter and moved her in a timely manner, she would have lost her leg, and that cost me a lot in the review financially and physically. Years ago, when one of the nurses pulled the child's hand when she came out of her mother's womb to the outside, which led to her suffering a tear in her arm, and she had to go to many governmental and private hospitals until some slight improvement occurred in her arm.

The hospital refuses to move the ambulance

While the citizen Nasser Nassar Al-Maqati, who was subjected to a medical error that resulted in the death of his daughter during childbirth, says: The director of the private hospital refused to move the ambulance to transfer the child to a specialized hospital except after paying the fees, adding that the medical committee held a session in which the defendant was absent from attendance and set a session during the week I do not know if the hospital will attend or not, especially since since the lawsuit was filed, it continues to contact me by phone in order to drop my private right in return for giving me all the sums that I spent, and I refused the matter, and I am waiting for the case to be decided from the legal perspective.

For his part, Ali bin Ali, who is waiting for what will result from the Sharia committee after a medical error occurred that led to the death of a woman, says: We approached the committee as well as the Directorate of Health Affairs, and I recorded my statements with an expatriate doctor of the same nationality as the doctor involved in the case. And he confirmed his continuation in his lawsuit against the hospital, adding that the specialist doctor's delay in attending had an important role in the deterioration of the situation, despite our certainty of justice and destiny.

As for the citizen, Khadran Al-Harthy, he confirms that the expenses and travel hindered him from pursuing a lawsuit that he submitted to the forensic medical committee in Riyadh. Rassam Al-Badri says: I had an enlarged leg after performing Umrah, and after the pain increased, I went to a government hospital in Taif, and the case was initially diagnosed as a stroke in the right leg, but the tests and magnetic x-rays proved that there was no stroke, and that the injury was a collection of blood in the right leg. Give me the necessary treatment to follow up in outpatient clinics.

Then I went to one of the private hospitals in Jeddah, who diagnosed the case as severe inflammation and pus collection in the right leg. I was admitted to the hospital, and the doctors performed four surgeries in the leg and thigh to clean the abscess, but the surprise was great when I was discharged after the suffering and pain from the hospital on a cart, because they caused me a disability. It is permanent as a result of severing the nerves in my leg, and now I cannot walk without a cart and crutches. I also became confined to a wheelchair with a disability rate of 50%.

Cut the ureter

Citizen Misfer Al-Baqami said: My wife almost paid with her life for a medical error after a caesarean section was performed in a government hospital as a result of the ureter being cut and the doctor making a professional mistake while performing the operation. The details of the incident go back to when I transferred my wife to a hospital while she was suffering from childbirth pains. After the examination, the obstetrician and gynecologist informed me that she needed a caesarean section, and out of concern for her safety and the safety of the fetus, I signed the approval. After the operation was over and my wife went home, and on the third day of the operation, her health condition deteriorated and a large swelling occurred on the left side, which made me transfer her to the hospital and see the specialist who performed the operation. He gave her some antibiotics and painkillers, but these medicines did not succeed in alleviating her suffering, so I transferred her to A private hospital, and after the medical examination, the surprise was when the treating doctor told me that my wife was suffering from an enlarged left kidney due to the ureter being cut. She was transferred to King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital, and the doctors made an external hole and connected a plastic tube to the ureter, which caused, after God Almighty’s destiny, to save her life, and it has been proven Medical reports that the reason is a professional medical error from the doctor who performed the operation, as he sutured the ureter and its mesh with the uterus and the upper surface of the abdomen.

He added: I then filed a complaint against the doctor, and after the completion of the investigation, the Medical Violations Committee in Makkah Al-Mukarramah Region issued a decision fining the gynecologist who performed the operation 50,000 riyals for making a medical mistake. Citizen Abdul Rahman Al-Kinani attributed the increase in medical errors to the escape of Saudi doctors, in particular, to administrative work, stressing that depriving them of a full-time allowance, which amounts to 70% of the original salary, will return them to clinics and technical work entrusted to them. He explained that the majority of family doctors assigned to work in health centers in most regions do administrative work, despite the health centers' need for them to work in family and community medicine clinics. The citizen, Ali Al-Ghamdi, indicated that the problem lies in the absence of consultant doctors working in the emergency departments outside official working hours, as it is sufficient for emergency doctors to give treatment instructions by phone without their presence.

100,000 riyals as a maximum fine for health violations

The Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, issued a decision specifying the ceiling of general fines for violators of the health professions practice system to reduce randomness in decisions, in contrast to the private right. The fine, other than the personal right, ranges between 30,000 riyals to 50,000 riyals, especially if the violation resulted in severe material or moral harm or permanent disability, and the fine may reach 100,000 riyals. 10,000 to 30,000 riyals, and the committee may decide to increase it from this amount. In the event that advertising methods of a commercial nature that are not based on scientific foundations are taken, the penalty for the violation in normal cases ranges from 10 to 20 thousand riyals. In the case of aggravating circumstances, the fine is raised to 100,000 riyals. The regulations approved by the Minister indicated that in the case of registering a health practitioner on boards, cards, medical or advertising prescriptions, scientific titles or specializations that he did not obtain, the fine ranges between 20,000 riyals to 30,000 riyals, and the penalty is gradual if the error is repeated and if the specialization is not recognized. The health practitioner has practiced more than one health profession, even if he has obtained its qualifications. The penalty starts from 5,000 riyals to 10,000 riyals. The decision also includes other penalties for violations committed by practitioners of health professions in other fields, while violations that cause harm to others are referred to health authorities. Legitimacy to issue the necessary rulings in the private right. The new decision also included that the directorates of health affairs in the regions and governorates nominate the violations committees with competence and experience and present them to the legal department in the ministry, along with the CV of each candidate in order to issue the necessary decision and then present the decisions to the authority.

425,643 surgeries are performed annually

An informed source in the Ministry of Health estimated to (Al-Madinah) the number of operations that were performed during the year 2008 at 425,643 surgeries in all hospitals of the Ministry of Health in the Kingdom, of which 26% are general surgery, 24% are obstetrics and gynecology operations, and the rest are other major and minor operations. The private sector recorded, through private hospitals, 266,542 surgical operations, of which 30% were obstetrics and gynecology operations, and 27% were general surgeries. 129 medical errors. The source confirmed that the Ministry of Health has taken important steps to reduce medical errors by selecting the best human competencies, and the Commission for Health Specialties contracted with international companies to examine health practitioners in their countries before their arrival in the Kingdom, and the formation of committees to examine patients' files and what is provided to them. The procedures also included stopping promotions and bonuses for all health practitioners unless they have a license to practice the profession from the Commission for Health Specialties. The focus was also on quality in all medical and technical work, and not accepting technicians who do not hold a bachelor’s degree in the same specialty after two years in order to improve their performance. Coordination has also been made with the training authorities to open the door to bridging to obtain a bachelor’s degree and to oblige all doctors in all hospitals and medical centers to provide the Ministry of Health with an e-mail for each doctor in order to provide them with new updates in the field of specialization first-hand through specialized committees in this field.

منصور البقمي - ماجد الشربي - مناحي سلطان- الطائف