JIZAN: Patients and residents here have listed a number of complaints about the state of public hospitals, including long queues, incorrect diagnoses, lack of hospital beds and incompetent staff. They claim that there is a culture of nepotism and favoritism at many of these facilities, with medical personnel treating their family and friends first, while many other patients wait for hours in the corridors of the hospitals. This is particularly the case for the orthopedic and pediatric sections, they claim. It is common to see old men lying on the floor and children screaming everywhere, they claim. Okaz/Saudi Gazette reporters who visited the region's hospitals - including King Fahd Hospital in Jizan and other public hospitals in Jizan, Abu Arish, Ahad Al-Masareha, Bish and Samta – witnessed overcrowding and some patients receiving treatment in the corridors. One patient said he made an appointment with a doctor three months ago and when he came to see him, he waited for four hours and eventually gave up. Ahmad Ataif, the father of a girl suffering from epilepsy, said they traveled all the way from his village to Jizan for an appointment at a local hospital, but was surprised when he was given an appointment with a neurologist for two months later. “After a heated argument they changed the appointment from two months to three days,” he said. “I drove all the way from my village in Ahad Al-Masareha to bring my daughter who was suffering from severe abdominal pain. Instead of being admitted to the emergency section she was given an intravenous drip in the corridor and she is still lying there,” he said. Ali Hamdi, who complained about the poor quality of health services at Samta Public Hospital, said he also waited for a long time to get an appointment, and when he did he was given a prescription and told to buy the medicine at a pharmacy outside the hospital. Ahmad Abdullah said he took his wife to Abu Arish Public Hospital because she was suffering from a severe headache. The doctor requested an X-ray for the brain. When he came back after a month the radiologist told him the doctor had mistakenly requested an X-ray for the pelvis instead of the brain. He said he was given another appointment for three months later. He said he complained but no one took any action. Aiysha Muhammad said she brought a relative to King Fahd Hospital in Jizan but doctors failed to diagnose his illness. They were then forced to take him to a private hospital. In response to their allegations, Gebrail Al-Qabi, spokesman of the directorate of health in Jizan, said the directorate has not received any complaints about the deterioration of services at the region's hospitals.
