Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JAZAN – Many hospitals in the southern province of Jazan lack essential facilities in emergency rooms and maternity wards, where patients are often kept in corridors due to the dearth of vacant beds.

Most hospitals in the region lacked sufficient numbers of doctors and consultants to meet the requirements of the large numbers of accident victims and patients suffering from chronic diseases.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette visited some of the hospitals in the region to highlight the suffering of patients as a result of poor services in various departments, especially emergency rooms and maternity wards.

Ahmed Abdullah said: “We have lost confidence in the emergency ward of Jazan Central Hospital. We don’t find here necessary care and our suffering snowballs.”

He said there are only one doctor and a lab technician even at King Fahd Hospital’s emergency ward. “It’s one of the largest hospitals in the region. They are unable to attend to all patients who come there,” Abdullah said.

He urged the region's health department to respond favorably to the complaints of citizens regarding poor services in emergency rooms.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette visited hospitals in Abu Arish, Sabya, Aridha and Ahad Masaraha where patients have been crying due to a lack of beds, which has doubled their suffering.

Many pregnant women were found lying on the floor, as beds were not available in the maternity ward. Some of the women were later shifted to private hospitals in Asir.

Turki Arishi said patients need influence to get hospital beds. “Patients who do not have the necessary 'wasta' will find it hard to get a bed in any of the hospitals in the region,” he pointed out.

Dr. Ayed Al-Shahrani, director of health affairs in Jazan, said a plan is afoot to increase hospital beds in the region. The number of beds will increase with the completion of new central hospital and maternity hospital projects, he added.

“Efforts are also under way to renovate the damaged Jazan General Hospital, which was hit by a massive fire two years ago,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

The fire ripped through the hospital killing 24 people and injuring 123 others. The intensive care unit and the maternity ward were destroyed in the fire and the patients were evacuated to nearby hospitals, including King Fahd Hospital.

The hospital made headlines in 2013 after four officials were sacked in connection with the case of a 12-year-old girl who was given HIV-tainted blood during transfusion.