JEDDAH, 13 September 2004 — There is an acute shortage of beds and medicines in government hospitals, patients complain.
According to Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper, many patients are forced to buy medicines from private pharmacies. Some others prefer private hospitals for treatment.
Hussam Awad, 17, was involved in a traffic accident in Jeddah. He came from Riyadh with his family to spend the summer vacation here. “I was involved in a car accident because of a reckless driver who tried to run a red light,” he said. “I suffered from broken bones and other injuries to my face. If it was not for the airbag, I would have been dead. I was transferred to King Fahd Hospital’s emergency ward. At first, they put me in a room with four patients. There were no extra beds or chairs for family members. All the patients were forced to buy their own medicine from outside because there was a shortage of medicine in the hospital.”
Ahmad Saeed fell from the roof of his house and suffered a broken shoulder. He said: “I am in a government hospital because I cannot afford the expenses in private hospitals. The problem here is that we do not get proper treatment. You would have to ask for the nurse 10 times before she answers. If I were in a private hospital, I would not have to put up with such treatment.”
Musleh Al-Mubarki said: “It is a nightmare to visit a government hospital when your child is sick. The other day I went there to treat my daughter for an ear infection. I waited for a long time in the waiting room to see a doctor. I was standing most of the time holding my daughter because there were no seats available for us to sit. Worse still is the type of treatment we get from employees and doctors at the hospitals. They speak to us as if we were their servants or begging them for money. I do not want to talk about the shortage of medicine because it is a known problem.”
