Saeed Al-Suraihi

Okaz

 

IT seems the Health Ministry is unable to enumerate its achievements and successes alone. Therefore, the ministry expected the Shoura Council to not only do this but also praise its tangible accomplishments.



The ministry was exasperated with the council when it did not do so and instead issued a statement highlighting the ministry’s shortcomings and failures. The ministry strongly criticized the council for not mentioning the free-of-charge services it had been providing to citizens.



In order to calm the situation, the council sent a number of its members to visit the ministry and meet with some senior officials. The council had no reason to take this step, because the ministry is never tired of talking about its achievements and the services it provides to citizens.



In fact, the role of the council is to highlight the shortcomings and failures of any ministry and pinpoint bad performance, if any. By doing so, the council does not mean to reveal what is hidden or meant to be kept secret, but to assist officials to realize the faults and rectify the weaknesses.



The council’s statement did not contain anything new. It simply repeated what reporters and columnists have been writing about the ministry in the newspapers. The writers  had reflected constant complaints of citizens and their predicaments with government hospitals and health centers that are no longer healthy.



The ministry was particularly angry at the wording of the council’s statement, which said: “The members were unanimous that healthcare in the country is far below the required standard, despite the huge budgets allotted to the ministry and that only poor citizens go to government hospitals because they may not have enough resources for treatment at private hospitals. Citizens are questioning the fate of the billions of riyals that have been allocated for healthcare.”



The ministry was particularly angry at the unanimity of the council members in condemning its substandard performance. It expected that at least some members would praise its performance and say that it was doing its job properly. It expected the members to say citizens would no longer need to go to expensive private hospitals or question the fate of the billions of riyals that the government had allocated to provide proper healthcare to citizens.



The council’s statement was extremely honest and fair. If the ministry had been equally honest, the council would not have needed to issue such a statement. The ministry would never have been angered by the council if it had done its job properly.