Citizens are calling for the Ministry of Health to launch an investigation into the state of King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Buraidah because of deteriorating conditions at the facility. This is the same hospital where a woman, Nada Ibrahim, died recently after a medical error during an operation to remove her gall bladder. The hospital's Shariah committee is still investigating the matter. A source at the hospital, whose name is being withheld, said the operating theaters have not seen any development since being set up 23 years ago. The source said the hospital receives cases from the Northern Region, Al-Dawadmi and Al-Zulfi and cases transferred from ten governorates in the Al-Qassim Region, “when the hospital was opened in 1988, it had 450 beds but this has now decreased to less than 370 beds.” Patients Ahmed Al-Hassoun, Ibrahim Al-Harbi and Sulaiman Al-Dhubay'iy expressed their dissatisfaction with service at the hospital because they have to wait a long time to see a doctor. They said that there is now little confidence in the hospital. Hundreds of patients can be found every day demanding transfers to hospitals outside the region because they are afraid of medical errors, they said. Muhammad Bin Saleh Al-Dabbasi, Director of Public Relations and Health Information and spokesman of the Al-Qassim Region's Department of Health Affairs, said the hospital is under considerable pressure because of the increasing number of patients. He said the situation would improve in the future with the launch of health projects, expansions, and modernization of the infrastructure for different hospitals in the region. At the same time, he said the hospital is considered to be one of the most important in the Kingdom for providing medical, health, and curative and awareness services. Al- Dabbasi, however, rejected claims that the hospital's capacity had decreased from 450 to 370 beds. He said there were 442 beds, after annexing the Prince Sultan Center for Cardiac Catheterization and the Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Trauma Center. He said these centers would be supported in future. As for allegations that the operations section in the hospital has not been developed since the inception of the hospital, Al-Dabbasi said the operations section has been upgraded. Al-Dabbasi admitted that all the hospital's departments, particularly the clinics, are facing increasing pressure. These include the outpatient clinics. To organize matters, the most modern methods are being used for appointments to provide the best services. As for allegedly poorly trained medical and nursing staff, he said they are being replaced from time to time. Contracts are being terminated and there were resignations. He agreed with the citizens on the need for a third hospital in Buraidah.
