Saudi Gazette report MADINAH — Patients have been complaining about serious cases of negligence at King Fahd Hospital in Madinah, including air-conditioning failures, pest infestations and ill-treatment at the hands of medical staff, Al-Madinah daily reported Wednesday. The newspaper claimed a lack of hygiene and negligence caused patient Adel Al-Muhammadi to develop a viral infection while being hospitalized in intensive care. His father Abdullah said: “I transferred my son, who was 18, to the hospital after he had an accident and suffered a brain injury and he was put in intensive care. “The suffering so severe I brought an electric fan into the intensive care unit because the air-conditioning was not working. this is in addition to the sheer number of pests and overflowing sewage in the intensive care unit." Al-Muhammadi said before his son left intensive care, he contracted the virus, which also infected other patients in the neurosurgery department. He demanded the hospital and its staff be held accountable for its negligence and undergo reforms. Ayoub Quarban, who lost two of his family members in a tragic accident on the Madinah-Jeddah Highway, said the hospital was negligent in treating two survivors who had suffered severe injuries. They included his aunt, who sustained severe burns and three fractures on her pelvis. Mamdouh Al-Balawi, who was visiting relatives at the hospital, said he and other visitors filed a complaint with the hospital management because women patients were screaming at hospital staff asking for help to ease their pain, but no one listened. He added: “I witnessed the misery of a woman who suffered from burns because of the intense heat in the hospital that lacked ventilation. The air-conditioning that had not been working for days."
