A Saudi national accused a private hospital in Khamis Mushayt of foot dragging in admitting his wife when she was in labor pains. The director of the hospital admitted the mistake by the female doctor on duty and reassured that action would be initiated against her. Narrating the details, Sultan Abdullah Al-Shahrani said he took his wife to the hospital at 5 A.M. after her labor pains started. He paid the fees as requested by the receptionist. However, the woman doctor on duty, only identified as A.A., who was summoned from her residence refused to come before the start of her duty at 10 A.M. Al-Shahrani said time was passing and his wife was in great pain. Due to his concern for his wife' health and that of the arriving baby, Al-Shahrani telephoned the woman doctor and beseeched her, but she adamantly refused to budge from her stance and put down the phone on him. At the same time, the emergency doctor informed him that he cannot force her to come. As his wife was suffering in the waiting room, Al-Shahrani was forced to take her to another hospital at 6.30 A.M. where she delivered a baby boy an hour-and-a-half later. He demanded of the Directorate of Health Affairs to investigate the incident. He drew attention to the fact that the circular of the Ministry of Health in this regard makes it incumbent upon all hospitals to admit emergency cases. Dr. Hasan Abu Hathrah, Director of the hospital, admitted that the lady doctor on duty had committed a mistake. “It's true the lady doctor had committed a mistake by not coming immediately and checking up the case herself. However, he said the nurse who checked her up, said there was still time until delivery, which would likely take place after four or five hours and she informed the lady doctor. Moreover, a doctor was available in the ER,” the director said. Abu Hathrah said the woman's husband is fully responsible for any harm his wife might suffer as he hurried to take her away from the hospital. He should have left her in the Emergency Room. He can get a refund for the fees he paid, he added.
