JEDDAH, 1 April 2004 — The Ministry of Health yesterday banned the Al-Maghrabi Hospital in Nuzlah district from performing any operation requiring general anesthesia.
A technical consultation committee visited the hospital and concluded that it was “currently not qualified to conduct operations that require general anesthesia due to poor preparations in the operating and recovery rooms.”
The ministry stated that it would continue its efforts to ensure the quality of all health services and “it would not hesitate to reprimand health establishments violating regulations.”
Hospital General Manager Motasim Alireza confirmed that it had received a letter from the Ministry of Health and that the hospital had ceased all operations requiring general anesthesia.
“I have forwarded a request to the ministry asking for them to inform us in detail of the violations observed by the committee so that we can review them and take remedial steps. The most important thing is the patients’ well-being.”
The ministry made its decision based on the violation of regulations that resulted in the death of a patient at Al-Maghrabi Hospital. Arab News reported on the case in February when 29-year-old police lieutenant Saad Saeed Al-Adwani was admitted to the hospital for an adenoidectomy — a relatively simple procedure. Unfortunately as a result of a mistake by the anesthetist, Al-Adwani went into a coma and died several weeks later.
Al-Maghrabi Hospital had admitted negligence and took full responsibility before Al-Adwani died.
Dr. Akef Al-Maghrabi, owner and CEO of Maghrabi, said that the patient’s heart had stopped during the operation and when this was treated, he went into a coma.
Dr. Al-Maghrabi emphasized that the anesthetist had been suspended and the patient’s file handed to a committee headed by an outside anesthetist. The subsequent investigation showed that death was the result of an incorrect evaluation by the anesthetist at Al-Maghrabi Hospital. Because there are no respirators at Al-Maghrabi, Al-Adwani was moved to Erfan Hospital where he died a few weeks later.
The Ministry of Health stated that the hospital had violated regulations by not dealing with faults known to exist by its own internal review committee and which should have been reported to the ministry. Given the situation, the ministry decided to ban all operations and other procedures requiring general anesthesia at the hospital. The hospital’s negligence, according to the ministry, caused Al-Adwani’s death.
