A patient at the Child and Maternity Hospital in Najran died on Thursday a week after undergoing a hysterectomy following a medical error. Another woman remains in the same hospital suffering from the consequences of a hysterectomy, in what has been described as a noticeable rise in the number of medical errors and complications resultant from childbirth at the hospital. “The hospital has informed Health Affairs of the incidents and ordered investigations,” an official from the hospital said. The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the two women had gone into labor last week and that “serious medical errors were committed”. “The deceased lady had a normal childbirth but suffered a rupture to the uterus. The presiding doctor and the consultant doctor on duty who was called for assistance failed to take the correct course of action when she went into a coma,” the official said. The official added that the second lady who remains in hospital had undergone a cesarean section resulting in complications which were supposedly addressed at the time by the consultant surgeon, but later led to increased bleeding requiring a life-saving hysterectomy operation. “The hysterectomy was performed by a doctor who had no connection with the original errors,” the official said, adding: “The staff have not had enough training and the number of medical errors has increased.”
