The former director of the embattled Al-Amal hospital has rejected accusations that his administration was responsible for overseeing a decline in treatment programs at the hospital that led to the recent “escape” of 15 drug addicts. The former director, Dr. Muhammad Shawoosh, was responding Tuesday to criticism when he was at the helm of the hospital by the current director Dr. Osama Ibrahim. Ibrahim had reportedly claimed that his management team had inherited problems from Shawoosh's team and that this had contributed to the recent incidents. The hospital hit the headlines over the recent “escape” from the institution by 15 drug addicts. However, reports indicate that some of these addicts had entered the hospital voluntarily and therefore had a choice either to leave or stay. It is still unclear why the patients left the institution. Shawoosh ruled out any shortcomings of the staff and workers of the hospital during his management tenure. He said that his staff had done their best to provide treatment to patients. He slammed Ibrahim's statements as “unacceptable” and called on the hospital's officials to be responsible. He said the current management must show leadership at this time, and to have the willingness to correct their mistakes which, he claims, had seen them lose the trust of their patients. Until investigations had been concluded, Shawoosh said it was wrong for anyone to make hasty judgments on the “escape” of patients. He called on officials at the Ministry of Health to check on all Al-Amal hospitals in the Kingdom, especially the one in Jeddah, to make sure of the quality of services offered. He stressed the importance of “selecting qualified officials to lead these hospitals in accordance with certain standards”. Shawoosh said the hospital in Jeddah lacked the capacity to deal with the increase in the number of patients. “The building is rented and old and is not suitable for the needs of patients. We had approached the minister about it, but nothing happened.” He added that the hospital's pharmaceutical capacity was “modest”. “There are no curative medications and what is being used now are all psychiatric medications.” He blamed the Ministry of Health's department of Social and Psychiatric Health for the deterioration of conditions at the hospital which led to the incident, stressing the importance of reevaluating the performance of the current management. Shawoosh said that more treatment centers needed to be opened for drug addicts. There was also a need to implement and respect the rights of the addict patients at the institution. He called on the staff at the hospital to settle their disputes and to start treating their patients instead of getting involved in “media wrangles”.
