Hospitals which do not accept emergency cases, under the pretext that they do not have the proper facilities, will be harshly punished. This is the warning issued by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health. He said this directive is based on a royal order, which made it obligatory for all hospitals to receive emergency cases. He said that the repeated refusal of hospitals to accept critical cases paints a negative picture of the standard of medical services of these facilities. Health authorities have recently received several complainst against hospitals not treating emergency cases. Meanwhile, Al-Rabeah also informed hospitals that they should stop receiving blood donations from Oct. 10 unless all donors are subjected to DNA tests for diseases. Informed sources at the Ministry of Health said that the ministry's blood banks will continue to provide private hospitals with blood, but that these hospitals should replace this blood from its patients. The source said that private hospitals will charge patients a maximum of SR200 to cover the expenses of blood transfusion.
