JEDDAH: A private medical clinic located east of Jeddah’s Safah district reportedly refused to treat a child who was struck by a car, the daily Al-Watan reported on Wednesday. After the accident occurred, the father rushed his child to the nearest medical clinic, five minutes away from the accident scene. Due to legal concerns, the name of the clinic was not published in the report.
Hussein Al-Qarni, an eyewitness, said staff members at the clinic said they had no specialized doctor at the clinic who could stabilize the child’s injuries. They instructed the father to go to a public hospital.
According to the director of the clinic, who was not named in the report, the child was dead on arrival.
However, numerous eyewitnesses claim the child was alive when he arrived at the clinic and that the clinic refused to use its ambulance to transport the child to a health center equipped to treat victims of car accidents.
An unnamed official at the local Health Affairs Department said there has been no official complaint filed by the father, but added that if the clinic did deny treatment or refused to use its emergency vehicle to move the child to a hospital it would be a violation of royal orders and the clinic would be held accountable.
