JEDDAH – A Ministry of Health decision to close down a leading private hospital in Jeddah resulted in chaos and panic involving both patients and staff Sunday. The Ministry of Health announced a total closure of the hospital for two months effective Sunday on the recommendation of a medical committee, the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Dr. Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital was shut down by the ministry in connection with the investigation into a medical malpractice case. The hospital was crowded at 4.30 p.m. at the start of its regular working hours. Patients were seen outside looking for alternative entrances to get into the hospital as only one gate was open. Staff members were also seen congregating at different locations of the hospital after being informed that the hospital would cease operations at the start of the evening shift rotation. Relatives of patients admitted in the hospital were upset at the sudden and abrupt decision. They were worried about their patients, many of whom were being treated in the ICU. “My father is in a critical condition. How can he be transferred to another facility? Public hospitals are already facing shortage of beds, so where can he be accommodated?” asked a Saudi national, who had come all the way from Makkah. “A hospital is not a ‘baqala' (grocery store) which can be shut at a short notice,” said a visibly angry woman. A young woman working at the hospital said she and her colleagues were notified shortly after she arrived for work that the hospital would stop operating for two months and this was a decision that would not be reconsidered. According to her, staff have been notified that the hospital will pay them for November, but there were conflicting reports over whether employees would lose their jobs or not. A number of Saudi employees were seen crying and looking shocked as they were relieved of their duties. According to one of the workers, employees have lost all trust in the hospital and are aware that they could be out of work. She said: “We are now signing a petition that will be sent to the governorate, which will hopefully consider our cases. We just can't lose our jobs like this, as there are over a hundred of us who are taking care of their families and paying loans using this SR3,000 that we get each month.” A non-Saudi employee, however, said that expatriate workers would “wait and watch” what would happen as their situation is further complicated by the fact they have residence permits (iqamas) and are sponsored by the hospital. Bilal Alaaraj, an audit regulation supervisor, said everyone was shocked to learn the hospital would no longer be operating. “A hospital cannot be closed like that. There must be arrangements put in place. It has been announced before that a meeting with the ministry will take place Tuesday to work out what will be done for over 110 patients who are being treated at the hospital as well as the workforce. However, this sudden decision had created a panic at the hospital,” he said. He said the hospital has been receiving critical cases at its ER a few hours before Health Ministry officials turned up. These included two accident cases who needed immediate treatment and x-rays. However, the families of these patients were forced to look for other hospitals and ambulances to transfer them. Saudi Gazette observed health officials, accompanied by a police officer, who started closing down the admission section followed by the ER section that had a door that could not be fully shut due to a technical fault. The team then closed the X-ray department and the lab department. The hospital cannot admit any patients at all after the ministry's decision, while those who were already being treated will be transferred to other hospitals and treated at the Ministry of Health's expense. The hospital closure follows the death of eight-year-old Salah Al-Deen Yusuf Jameel. In a statement issued Thursday night, the hospital's administration held a technical maintenance company responsible for the child's death. “The mistake happened inside the x-ray room when the maintenance company mixed up the oxygen and nitrogen inlets. The mistake happened during routine maintenance carried out by the company without the knowledge of the concerned authorities in the hospital.” The ministry said in its statement that it took the decision to close down the hospital after an investigation was carried out by specialized medical committee set up by the order of the Health Minister, and the closure decision will not be revoked until the hospital fixes all the problems. “The committee did a thorough investigation into the death case by carefully studying the file of the child. The investigation included questioning the physicians and technicians involved,” the statement said. “It studied the reports of a specialized engineering team that was set up to examine the conditions of the medical equipment used in handling the child when he was admitted to the hospital.” The committee comprising consultant physicians in the specialties of intensive care, anesthesia, surgery and healthcare quality, said it based its decision to recommend the closure of the hospital on a number of incidents. “For example, the CPR team did not handle the child professionally according to the scientific practices, the lack of safety in the x-ray section as it was not equipped to perform general anesthesia and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),” the report pointed out.
