The Ministry of Health (MoH) shut down 34 medical facilities, including 10 pharmacies for various health violations, during the month of Muharram, a senior official from the ministry announced Sunday in Riyadh.

Ali Az-Zawawi, undersecretary to the private sector facilities at the MoH, said the total number of violations detected in private health institutions stood at 103, while the number of irregularities and violations in pharmaceutical establishments was 213. He added that the number of violations committed by medical staff reached 90 cases during the same period.

Az-Zawawi pointed out that the various directorates of health affairs throughout the Kingdom oversee 130 private hospitals, 2,000 polyclinics and 7,000 pharmacies, in addition to 98,000 medical practitioners.

In a related incident, the Ministry of Health recently opened a help line for members of the public to lodge complaints about medical errors and health violations detected in their respective regions.

“Members of the public can make their complaints online or they can directly fax the details for necessary action,” explained Az-Zawawi, adding that they can make an online complaint on www.moh.gov.sa to receive the urgent attention of the ministry.

“The aforementioned facilities were closed based on the reports submitted by the field inspection teams of the Directorate General of Health Affairs in the respective regions,” the official said.

He pointed out that the team conducts regular inspection tours of private facilities in the region to check the quality of services offered in ambulance services, operation theaters and the professional suitability of medics and paramedics employed by these health institutions to ensure quality health care to patients.