HAIL — The Directorate of Health Affairs in Hail has said the head of a public hospital in the city was relieved of his post on his request, refuting claims that he had resigned due to lack of cooperation from the authorities. Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Nekhailan, director of Hail General Hospital, announced his resignation before his staff during a post-Eid get-together Saturday, saying lack of cooperation from the Health Affairs Directorate had led to a series of medical errors at the hospital. Al-Nekhailan said he had tendered his resignation after a medical malpractice complaint was lodged by the husband of a 26-year-old woman who was given the wrong type of blood resulting in a miscarriage. Al-Nekhailan, who had been director of the hospital since 2007, apologized and said he could not be held responsible for all patients. In its statement, the Directorate of Health Affairs said Al-Nekhailan was relieved of his post because of his incompetence in the supervisory role and mismanagement at the hospital. It said Al-Nekhailan would return to his normal duties as a resident physician. “The directorate would like to point out that it had received a medical malpractice complaint on Ramadan 16 and the case had been investigated," the statement said. “In the light of the investigation report, the case file was transferred to the relevant authority to take legal action against those responsible both within the hospital and outside. There was a clear case of lack of professionalism and mismanagement at the hospital," it said. The statement added that Dr. Al-Nekhailan had submitted a request to relieve him of the administrative role and allow him to return to duty as a resident physician. “He did not tender resignation and no other staff member made a similar request as alleged in some newspaper reports," the statement said. — SG
