12 hospital guards face the ax for telling truth

Saudi Gazette report MADINAH — Twelve security guards are under threat of getting fired from King Fahd Hospital for filing a complaint against it, Al-Madina reported. One of the security guards said he and his colleagues work for a security company under the ministry of labor and social development. “It all started when five of us received a sudden notice of suspension without any legitimate reason. We began receiving threats from the hospital for our involvement with an incident that happened between one of the nurses at the hospital and a maintenance worker,” said the guard. He continued the worker was an Arab expatriate and he came with a Saudi female patient in order to help her with the process of the medical examination. “The worker took a waiting number for the patient. The patient’s number came up and her number was called several times but there was no answer. The number roll continued and later the patient came asking for her turn. The nurse clarified that she was late,” said the security guard. He added the patient ignored the nurse and barged into the radiology room and came back with the worker. “They both tried to barge into the clinic while there was already another patient inside. The nurse stopped them. Later the patient wanted to enter the clinic with the worker accompanying her. The nurse did not allow the worker to accompany the patient because there was no relation between the two,” said the security guard. He also said the worker got furious and started threatening the nurse. “The nurse decided to lodge a formal complaint and asked the security guards to testify in court. My colleagues and I went to the court and we testified with integrity, even though we were threatened with suspension,” said the security guard. After their return from the court, they were banned from returning to their jobs at the hospital and five of the them were suspended. He added the hospital stripped the top security officer of his authority and downgraded his position to a shift supervisor. “The rest of us were threatened with suspension and salary deduction for continuing to testify for the nurse,” said the security guard. Labor and Social Development ministry’s official in Madinah Ghurmallah Al-Ghamdi has appointed a team of inspectors to review the case. The directorate had contacted the security company’s representatives and urged them to settle the case amicably.