Several Shoura Council members have accused the Health Ministry of providing substandard medical services for the country’s citizens despite the government’s huge budget allocations.

They said the minister of health should appear before the council to explain why projects are delayed and the “low level” of health services, especially at primary health care centers.

They made the comments during a discussion of the ministry’s annual report by the council’s health and environment committee. They said there was an extreme shortage of specialists. This included psychiatry where there is only one specialist for 25 patients. The members criticized the “lengthy waiting periods for appointments and approvals for treatment abroad.”

The ministry failed to provide the 51,000 beds it had projected in the state’s eighth five-year plan, they said.

They said the ministry’s report did not mention any efforts or plans to tackle diabetes in Saudi Arabia, despite the country having the world’s highest incidence of the disease. They added that the health insurance program has been delayed for years.

They said the ministry has to find a way to ensure medical errors are detected without patients filing complaints. “The number of unreported medical errors is larger than the ones reported because most patients do not file complaints, either because they are unaware of the severity of the error or its complications, or do not know they have the right to complain,” said a member.