The people north of Taif are complaining that they must drive for miles in order to get to neighboring hospitals for their follow-up appointments related to women’s health issues, especially those regarding pregnancy, due to the shortage of female doctors in the department of obstetrics and gynecology in Thulm hospital.
Thulm hospital spokesman Badr Ateiyah Alkharasi said the hospital needs to make available a specialist female doctor in the department, as many fathers and husbands won't let the current male doctor examine their pregnant women. He added that while visiting the director of medical affairs in Thulm hospital, he tried to explain how difficult this was for people and how many families have sent written letters asking to ensure the presence of a female specialist there.
Alkharasi pointed out that the director of medical affairs, Abdulrahman Karkaman, had received these letters and promised these people to wait for a change, but until now they haven’t seen any.
“Families are forced to drive for miles in order to seek out private hospitals where their women can be examined and get a check-up. Thulm hospital is facing complaints regarding this situation due to the shortfall of health care services, and above all, not having a female specialist in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department.” said Alkharasi.
Another official spokesman of the ministry of health in Taif, Siraj Alhumaidani, said the director of curative medicine, Mohammed Alshehri, who represents the Ministry of Health in Taif, spoke to the contracting manager about having female OB/GYN specialists to tide over the shortage of female doctors in hospitals such as Thulm and Almoya. “We are in the process of fulfilling that request once we get the support of the hospitals, which in turn will support us with a specialist,” said Alhumaidani.
He added that the Ministry of Health in Taif had come up with a temporary solution by finding a female specialist who would visit the hospitals in need once a week, to check up on patients. He emphasized the fact that this would have to be coordinated between the directors of hospitals to determine the day of the week and time she would be visiting, and to let the patients know when the specialist would be present. “In the meantime, this is what the Ministry of Health in Taif can do for now to deal with this shortage.”
No female doctor in hospital’s gynecology dept
