Al-Watan newspaper

I suggest that we set up medical courts to look into complaints about medical errors. The procedures of filing a complaint should be simple and fast without any red tape.

Complaints because of medical errors are common in many countries. In the United Kingdom, according to the Medical Council, there has been a 70 percent increase in the number of complaints over the past five years. The Irish Medical Council also reported a 19 percent increase in complaints relating to medical errors. On average, 90 percent of these complaints are settled in favor of doctors as the courts rule that no medical errors have occurred.

We do not have statistics in the Kingdom about the number of medical complaints filed annually. We also do not have a medical court. Instead, there is a medical commission that looks into such complaints. The commission comprises a judge who is nominated by the Ministry of Justice, in addition to a legal counselor, two doctors, a pharmacist and a secretary who are appointed by the Ministry of Health. The commission also has two medical professors who have been nominated by the Ministry of Higher Education. Although the commission works hard to investigate complaints, there has been a delay of a few years in processing many cases.

This is because of the absence of a clear mechanism to process cases, something that has led to a backlog. Another reason is the absence of full-time members, as all members of medical commissions work full-time in government agencies and are usually asked to meet outside of their official work hours to look into cases of complaints. There are also no clear measures to review frivolous and malicious complaints. Medical commissions do not have the power to issue penalties or disciplinary measures against healthcare practitioners; their role ends once a judgment is issued.

The formation of medical courts could eliminate all these negativities, and expedite the process of reviewing medical lawsuits and issuing judgments. They would also regain the confidence of investors in the Kingdom’s healthcare sector and improve and streamline the process of issuing judgments.