JEDDAH — Non-urgent cases accounted for 80 percent of patients treated in the emergency rooms of government hospitals in Jeddah last year. Dr. Muhammad Bajubeir, director of Jeddah Health Affairs' private health sector administration, said most cases handled by emergency rooms should have been transferred to relevant outpatient clinics. Other cases could get treatment in the health centers located in residential districts, he said. Bajubeir said such cases are a burden on emergency room staff and also makes patients who genuinely need urgent treatment to wait longer than they should. Dr. Tariq Al-Azraqi, consultant internist at Asir Central Hospital, said a lot of non-urgent cases deliberately avoid health centers despite their presence in the majority of districts in the Kingdom. These centers also have specialist and consultant doctors as well as qualified nursing staff and ample supplies of medication, he said. Al-Azraqi also believed there is a common perception that these health centers are useful in treatment of common colds only. Dr. Tariq Al-Ajmi, consultant orthopedist, said patients should only visit the emergency rooms for the following reasons: • Acute cases of heart disease, chest pain, blockage of the respiratory system, severe bleeding, drop in blood circulation, high blood pressure, internal diseases and various accidents. • Surgical cases that need speedy and direct intervention like saving limbs, organ surgery and spinal injuries including those requiring immediate intervention. • Delivery and hemorrhage cases and swallowing of foreign objects. Al-Ajmi said emergency cases are classified into those that need to be dealt with within 15 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour or two hours. Patients who do not need to visit the emergency room include: • Cases of common cold, minor diarrhea, measuring of blood pressure and sugar levels or checkups for cases with chronic diseases. • Slight injuries and wounds that can be treated in district health centers. Al-Ajmi said there is lack of awareness among some patients as they do not go to the right place for treatment. Patients do not need to visit the emergency room for periodic or follow-up checkups or because they have suffered minor injuries, he said. As for the number of patients visiting emergency rooms of hospitals instead of health centers, Al-Ajmi said there is a belief among some that the diagnostic capabilities of those centers are primitive, especially laboratory analysis facilities. If a patient requires treatment in a hospital, health center medical staff will not hesitate to transfer him to a specialist or consultant doctor in a hospital. A medical source in King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah said all cases received in the emergency room of the hospital are handled even though many of them can be treated in health centers or clinics. The reason for receiving all these cases without exception is the motto of the Ministry of Health, “Patient First”, he said.
