“The Jeddah Psychiatric Hospital is aging and is suffering from a host of problems, including an acute shortage of medicines, and this reflects on the condition of the patients who could pose a real threat to the hospital's staff.” These were the words of the hospital's director who explained the state of affairs at the facility. There have been innumerable complaints from patients and their relatives about substandard services and poor facilities at the hospital. Al-Watan Arabic newspaper recently visited the hospital to understand the reality of the situation. Most of the patients' relatives the newspaper talked to complained about the substandard performance of the medical staff, ill-treatment of patients, an acute shortage of medicines and the poor hygiene conditions. They say buying medicines at high prices from stores outside has become a financial burden for most families. When patients are discharged from the hospital, doctors prescribe them expensive medicines that are not available at the hospital's pharmacy, especially for those receiving treatment for schizophrenia and other serious conditions. Most of the families cannot afford to buy these medicines from stores outside thus affecting the progress of treatment. Um Ahmad said her son was admitted to the hospital with a serious mental disorder four months ago and his condition did not improve much. She claimed that nursing staff, most of whom are foreigners, ill-treat their patients. She said she had discovered some of the male nurses beating patients, including her son. Abdullah Salih said his brother who was getting treatment at the hospital often complained about the brutal treatment by nurses. He said a nurse had slapped his brother in the face. One of the nurses who spoke on a condition of anonymity said there had been many cases of aggressive behavior, such as the nurses beating patients and tying them up to their beds when they refuse to take medicines. Dr. Suhail Khan, the hospital's director, pointed out that the medical supplies department at Jeddah Health Affairs is alone accountable for the shortage of medicines at the hospital. Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of the Health Affairs in Jeddah, said a new 500-bed hospital has been approved to replace Jeddah's aging psychiatric hospital and tenders have been invited to build the SR250 million facility.
