Friday 15 November 2013

The increasing cases of medical malpractice in Jeddah hospitals are a matter of concern, Sami Badawood, director of Health Affairs in the Jeddah Municipality, told Arab News. "Jeddah ranks the highest in the Kingdom in medical malpractice cases. More than 200 instances of medical malpractice were recorded last year in Jeddah hospitals, mostly in anesthetics and operations," he said. Badawood said that Jeddah Health Affairs is implementing a special program called "Central Monitor," under which monitoring devices using advanced electronic technology will be placed inside operating rooms.

"This scheme has been applied in nine government hospitals and in large private hospitals in Jeddah. We intend to expand it to other hospitals in the city. The objective of the program is to monitor the progress of medical procedures inside operating rooms. The videos recorded by the monitoring devices will be used to verify the mistakes. The Health Affairs is directly supervising the scheme, whereas the program's headquarters will be at King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah," he said.

In a related development, sources at the Health Affairs said that a travel ban was enforced on the physician accused of committing a medical error in the case of the young girl Zubaidah, until investigations are completed. Zubaidah, 17, died on Oct. 24 at Erfan & Bagedo Hospital due to alleged medical error. Yasir Sulaimani, the victim's father, said that he was informed that the first session of the Legal Health Committee's meeting looking into his daughter's case would be held on March 2. Sulaimani added: "When I asked why the first session proceedings were scheduled at such a late date, I was told it is because the committee is still waiting for the translation of the medical reports from the hospital as well as the video recordings of the operation.

The hospital claimed that they do not have a video recording of the operation because the monitor was out of order. "I went to the police station in North Jeddah to file a complaint that the hospital is trying to obstruct the case, but they declined to accept my complaint, and told me they have instructions not to accept my petition, since this is the Ministry of Health's jurisdiction." Meanwhile, a source at the Health Affairs said that the department had earlier banned the use of cameras inside operating rooms to maintain patients' privacy. The ban was enforced following a directive from the Ministry of Health.

© Arab News 2013