JEDDAH: A number of doctors who have moved from the King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah to private hospitals have cited too much work pressure and bureaucracy as reasons for their decision.

Some of the doctors were quoted as saying by local media that they moved to private hospitals because the hospital’s administration issued orders not to perform any surgery in the clinic section. Some of them also said that they left because of better financial offers.

Sources were quoted as saying that the doctors left mainly because of attractive financial offers from private sector hospitals, with some of them reaching double their salaries, in addition to other benefits.

Some doctors leave government hospitals through applications to end their services, which are represented either in resignation or early retirement.

The doctors who leave government hospitals have rich experience in rare specializations such as orthopedics. Most of them have studied in Germany, the Czech Republic and Canada, which increases their demand.

The Ministry of Health said it is a personal choice and a doctor can work wherever he wants as long as he serves society better. “It is a personal choice. The matter has not yet become a common phenomenon and better offers always attract doctors,” Faisal Al-Zahrani, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, was quoted as saying.