JEDDAH: Although medical care for Saudi citizens is free of charge — thanks in a large part to the emphasis on public health care instituted by the Kingdom’s founder King Abdul Aziz — this free health care is only available at public hospitals. And nearly every Saudi has a story to tell about the problem he or she has encountered seeking treatment through the system.
“My mother was diagnosed as needing a hernia operation at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah’s southern area, and we were given an appointment for surgery after three months,” said Hassan Nasser. “Anyone might say waiting three months for surgery would be an outrage, but since we know how the system works, we felt lucky that the surgery had not been scheduled for six to nine months in the future.”
But when the time came for the surgery, “they said they had no available beds and told us to come back after a week,” he added.
These further delays have gone on for three weeks — not counting the initial three-month wait — and still Nasser’s mother suffers. Frustrated, Nasser said he even went into the hospital searching for an empty bed; he found three, but was told they were reserved for “extreme” cases.
“The fact is that the ‘extreme’ cases they are waiting for are ‘wasta’ cases,” he said, referring to the utilization of personal contacts in the government or private sectors to receive special and expedited treatment over those who do not have such connections. “Since I had no contacts in the hospital, and since we can’t afford to visit a private hospital that would cost us hundreds of thousands of riyals, my mother has suffered physically and psychologically awaiting her operation.”
The Saudi government recently began requiring employers of foreign nationals to provide health insurance that covers private treatment — a fact that has not been overlooked by Saudis who are not covered for private care. Many have begun to complain that the recent reforms that require private health insurance for foreign workers coupled with a slowdown in public health treatment for Saudis is unfair.
“I think it is quite odd that Saudi government employees aren’t allowed health insurance as an employment benefit in this country,” said Carol Fleming, a former American diplomat who is now married to a Saudi and living in Riyadh. She pointed out that the generous health insurance benefits afforded to US government employees (compared to US citizens working in the private sector) was one of the major benefits of her previous job.
“However, with the issue of (Saudi) health care, my husband and I have both been victims of the slowdown in the system,” she said. “Just last week, my husband, who works for one of the Saudi ministries, fell ill and had to go to a local public hospital for oxygen but was stopped at the door by a sign which read ‘No admittance, No beds.’”
Fleming said that after her husband entered the public hospital demanding treatment he was referred to the sign outside.
“This left him the option of paying out of his own pocket for treatment at a private hospital,” she said.
There was one other option — Fleming’s husband just happened to know a couple of doctors that were on duty. They admitted him in minutes.
The benefits of having friends in high places also helped Fleming when she was diagnosed with a lump in her breast. They gave Fleming an appointment for further tests in six months. Knowing that this was too long to wait for a potentially fatal condition, Fleming took the wasta option and found a friend in the hospital who got her to see a doctor much sooner. This move may have saved her life.
“Following the screening the doctor told me that it was smart to have come in early,” she said. “The cells surrounding the lump were angry and would have spread. I would most likely have been in the advanced stage (of breast cancer) within only a couple of months.”
Fleming said she didn’t like having to employ wasta to avoid a fatal delay. “But in a life-and-death situation, what were I and my husband to do?” she said. “And what are other people who are poor or don’t have personal connections or medical insurance coverage to do? Are they simply just discarded without a second thought?”
Many Saudis would like somebody to answer these questions.
