Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — The Ministry of Health has faced a number of obstacles in completing even half of its project to allocate medical stores for its establishments around the Kingdom, according to a senior ministry official. A lack of land was a major obstacle, Deputy Minister of Health for Supply and Engineering Affairs Salah Al-Mazrou said, answering a Saudi Gazette question at a press conference in Jeddah, Tuesday.



According to him, the remaining half of the project will be ready after four months.



He added that they were studying if they should attach these stores to medical establishments or allocate a separate place for them.



A health official working closely with mental hospitals said that there is a lack of medication for mentally ill patients and called for easing restrictions to help them find medicines in the Kingdom.



Al-Mazrou responded that the Kingdom does not have a shortage in medication. He said: “The prescribed medication might not be authorized by the Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA) and if we were informed that such drugs are necessary and are not available in the market, we can ask for an urgent release from SFDA.”



Asked about regular medications that might not be available at public hospitals, he said any delay in such prescriptions is “not because of shortage of medications but because of a lack of proper communication between pharmacies and storage facilities.”



He said: “Unfortunately the pharmacists do not communicate with stores. “That is a problem we are aware of. They simply tell patients to come after a week or even a month without getting back to the stores.



“We have followed such a case that appeared in media and after we checked back with a store supervisor we realized that there was no shortage but rather a miscommunication.”



Another issue that was raised at the Ministry of Health gathering was the operational contracts the ministry had signed with various companies. Responding to a question about why the ministry did not just run things themselves, Al-Mazrou said they have tried to do so but the experience failed.



Therefore, the ministry decided to revert to the contracting method with more focus on quality.



However, Al-Mazrou added that relying on contracts has created a problem, as a few companies started to dominate the market.



These companies, he said, “have divided the ministry’s establishments into zones that they distribute amongst themselves.”



Another problem that makes the ministry unable to evaluate these contracting companies despite reports that prove they are making mistakes is that they tend to get excellent reports from hospital heads, said Al-Mazrou.



He said officials would continue to look closely at these contracts and assess the work of the companies implementing them.



The ministry official was holding an open discussion here at the third annual seminar for assistant managers for health supply and heads of contracting and purchasing departments throughout the Kingdom.



Sami Badawood, head of Jeddah Health Affairs, answering a Saudi Gazette question about what recommendations were applied from the previous two gatherings, said the main recommendation that has now been put into practice is “unifying regulations in all Kingdom regions regarding medical equipment and health needs so no personal judgments are tolerated.



“Everything is computerized and goes according to a system.”



Badawood also announced the opening of a hospital in Jeddah within two weeks.



He added that Jeddah does not have any shortage in medications. However, he called for increasing awareness among the public to use alternative medication.