By Suha Al-Arabi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

TAIF – Many patients and their relatives have complained about lack of space at the emergency section of King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital due to ongoing expansion work and said it could exacerbate the condition of many patients.

Dr. Ali Al-Zahrani, director of the hospital, emphasized his organization’s efforts to expand the emergency section by almost doubling the number of beds from 26 to 50. “Unfortunately the expansion works have increased overcrowding at the emergency,” he added.

He said the situation has forced the hospital to transfer many patients to King Faisal Hospital.

“Patients lack privacy as a result of overcrowding,” said a relative of one of the patients while speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette. “The management is shifting some patients to King Faisal Hospital and this is also causing problems to patients and their relatives.”

He said the hospital is applying the Canadian system keeping male and female patients in one room and this has raised indignation of patients and their relatives as they lack privacy.

Nasser Abdullah said the total area of the emergency department does not exceed 100 square meters and cannot accommodate the increasing number of patients. It will lead to spread of infectious diseases among patients and their relatives, he added.

He said doctors were not taking care of patients properly, and they blame this attitude on the ongoing construction work at the department.

Hospital director Al-Zahrani said expansion work at the emergency department was progressing well. However he pointed out that it was putting extra pressure on the department.

“This situation has forced us to transfer many patients to King Faisal Hospital with the support of the Health Affairs Department in Taif,” he explained.

He said the hospital was following the Health Ministry’s instructions regarding the distance between beds at the emergency department. “There is no mixing of male and female patients at King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital as complained by some people,” he added.

“Ours is the only hospital in the Kingdom where separate emergency sections have been opened for male and female patients. This is an expensive system as it requires more medical equipment and medical staff,” he said.

Al-Zahrani added: “We are trying to divide the emergency section considering the different cases we receive such as accidents, strokes and heart diseases to ensure privacy of patients as far as possible, either by putting curtains or building separation walls.”

He said the hospital is ready to provide the best health facilities and services to its patients.