THE Director General of the Medical Authorities and Medical Attachés at the Ministry of Health, Mishal Al-Mishal, said in a recent press statement: “The medical attachés will pay whatever it takes for the medical cost of patients transferred abroad for treatment.” This statement is not accurate. The truth is that there are many patients getting treatment abroad who have suffered at the hands of Saudi medical attachés abroad when it comes to paying for their treatment and medicines. There are patients who were abandoned by the Saudi medical attachés abroad on flimsy grounds. Most of the offered excuses were related to bureaucracy and not to the condition of the patients. To be objective, there are efforts given and money paid. The shortcomings of the Saudi medical attachés differ from one case to another, depending on the performance of the medical attaché in a given country. To be frank with Mishal, the performance of the medical attachés abroad in dealing with Saudi citizens is not the best compared to other Gulf countries. I hope he reviews the experience of Gulf patients and how their attachés abroad are treating them so he could realize the true meaning of healthcare and caring for patients who suffer from homesickness besides their disease. The pain and suffering of patients seeking treatment abroad starts when they ask for it. Most of the time, processing the papers of the patients is delayed and that makes their medical condition even worse. In most cases, patients need strong connections. It is even worse when some health officials act as if they are paying for the treatment from their own pockets, and not from the treasury.
