JEDDAH, 27 December — A female doctor in Ahsa has been assaulted and subjected to various forms of harassment because she complained to the authorities about the dangerous violations being practiced in the hospital, such as using out-of-date chemicals in the hospital’s laboratory, according to Al-Watan newspaper.
As her repeated complaints to the director of the hospital about the risks involved in using chemicals past their expiry date did not produce any results, the specialist doctor forwarded her complaints to the Ministry of Health some time last year. The ministry responded by directing the concerned department to make an inquiry regarding the matter. An order was subsequently issued to appoint a Saudi in place of the present director of the laboratory, who was originally an expat teacher at a health institute.
However, the ministry’s order was ignored as the laboratory director continued at his post. As a result, the hospital director was furious at the woman doctor. He allegedly sent two female nurses and the deputy director of the hospital for financial and administrative matters and some other male workers to the female doctor’s residence at the female workers’ living quarters at the hospital to attack her and evict her from there in October last year. Although she complained to police immediately, no action followed. She then complained to the Ministry of Health about the attack. The ministry forwarded the complaint to its legal wing for further action last August, but again no action was taken.
According to Al-Watan, in the meantime the hospital administration had made attempts to terminate her contract by forging her signature. They apparently wanted her out of the way so that action against the hospital director based on her complaints would be dropped. However, as the director could not terminate her they continued harassing her, for example by disconnecting her telephone.
She has not been allowed to visit her home country. The director has again attacked her physically, as registered by the local police on Dec. 4. Police have yet to take any action.
