Muhammad Al-Waeel
Over 2,500 deaths have been registered due to medical errors. Around 1,600 legal cases have been brought against doctors due to medical errors, and, so far, doctors have been found guilty in 500 cases.
Fayez Al-Shehri, a member of the Shoura Council, recently revealed these scary figures, which should make Ministry of Health officials, especially Minister of Health Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, speedily respond to solve this problem. I am certain the minister is exerting painstaking efforts to improve performance within the sector and reduce medical errors as well as end any negative practices that hinder the delivery of high-quality healthcare services.
Unfortunately, medical errors continue to occur with no drastic action taken on the part of the concerned authorities. Innocent people become victims in spite of nonstop promises from the authorities that never materialize on the ground. We hear about deterrents, penalties and measures but see no action.
There were more than 2,500 registered medical error cases but what about the cases that were not registered. I am sure there are plenty of such cases. Dr. Muhammad Al-Khazim, an associate dean at the Applied Medical Sciences School of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, said the laws governing the medical sector in the country are ambiguous and inaccurate and make the process of following up on errors difficult. He noted that the problem lies in the absence of monitoring and the failure to apply accurate methods to register medical errors.
Dr. Al-Khazim wrote a book in 2010 entitled “The Saudi Health Scene.” In it he talked about a dangerous problem which is that many medical errors that occur during diagnosis and treatment are not registered and that the doctor is always blamed or made the scapegoat. We should not forget that the medical cadre in Saudi hospitals is sometimes forced to work long hours beyond their physical capability. As a result, they end up making medical errors. It is wrong to subject them to inhumane conditions at work and then to blame them.
The Health Minister is undoubtedly facing a big challenge and he has to overcome it and end the occurrence of medical errors.
