RIYADH: A total of 323 convictions of medical mistakes were registered in Saudi Arabia last year, the Health Ministry said while admitting that it was unable to follow up and assess the performance of private hospitals and clinics.
The ministry announced this while replying to queries of members of the Shoura Council regarding its annual report that was recently discussed at the house.
The ministry, however, said the convictions represented only about 1.6 percent for each 100,000 people in Saudi Arabia while the ratio of deaths resulting from medical mistakes was around 0.5 percent for the same number of people.
“The rate of convictions of medical mistakes against accusations was 33 percent,” it said.
According to local newspapers, the ministry admitted its inability to closely follow up or assess the performance of the private health sector due to limited resources. The report called for supporting its various departments with more doctors, dentists, pharmacists, technicians and other personnel.
It said the number of private health institutions was rising steadily, reaching more than 4,000 in the city of Riyadh alone.
According to the report, more than 26,000 medical mistakes took place in the Kingdom during the 2000-2006 period and that the largest amount of money paid as compensation for a medical mistake was SR800,000.
Some Shoura Council members called for the resignation of Health Minister Hamad Al-Manie for his ministry’s inability to upgrade the level of health care services and for the growing number of medical mistakes in the country.
