Cockroach horror in Jeddah hospital prompts swift response
Cockroach horror in Jeddah hospital prompts swift response
The director of the King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah has been relieved of his duties over a cockroach infestation that featured in a viral video
2 min read
24 Jun, 2015
King Fahd Hospital director relieved from his duties [al-Araby al-Jadeed]
The director of the King Fahd Hospital KFH in Jeddah was relieved from his duties - along with his entire team - after a video showing cockroaches in one of the hospital's rooms went viral on social media.
The Saudi Health Ministry announced on Monday that upon investigating the video circulated on social media about the poor hygiene in one of the KFH buildings, Health Minister Khalid al-Falih decided to shut down the hospital, move to the new building at al-Mosadiah, and relieve all relevant officials of their duties, including the hospital director Hammad Shujaa.
The Minister's decisions also included applying tough cleaning standards at all medical facilities and developing deterring administrative procedures to avoid recurrence of such negligence.
"These decisions come as part of the keen interest shown by the Ministry in avoiding such negligence in its facilities, and in reiterating its commitment to improving services provided for patients as well as providing them with proper healthcare to maintain their health and safety", the Ministry stated.
"Meanwhile, the Ministry hereby apologizes for the harm done to the patients owing to this negligence by some of its staff".
According to the Saudi Okaz newspaper, Shujaa said on Tuesday that he contacted the Health Ministry about the poor state of the hospital building five months ago, but no one paid attention to him.
In a letter he sent to the Health Minister, Shuja said the cockroaches had been in the 25 year-old building for more than 15 years, with the knowledge of all Health Ministers and officials, and that he demanded the closure of the building several times.
According to Okaz, the committee investigating the case found that the hospital room featuring in the video had been closed for two weeks, and was only used when the hospital staff could not find a bed for the patient. When the insects were spotted, the patient was moved to another room.
On social media, people criticised the poor condition of the hospital, arguing that KFH was not an exception, and that there are many other similar cases.
The Saudi Health Ministry announced on Monday that upon investigating the video circulated on social media about the poor hygiene in one of the KFH buildings, Health Minister Khalid al-Falih decided to shut down the hospital, move to the new building at al-Mosadiah, and relieve all relevant officials of their duties, including the hospital director Hammad Shujaa.
The Minister's decisions also included applying tough cleaning standards at all medical facilities and developing deterring administrative procedures to avoid recurrence of such negligence.
"These decisions come as part of the keen interest shown by the Ministry in avoiding such negligence in its facilities, and in reiterating its commitment to improving services provided for patients as well as providing them with proper healthcare to maintain their health and safety", the Ministry stated.
"Meanwhile, the Ministry hereby apologizes for the harm done to the patients owing to this negligence by some of its staff".
In a letter he sent to the Health Minister, Shuja said the cockroaches had been in the 25 year-old building for more than 15 years, with the knowledge of all Health Ministers and officials, and that he demanded the closure of the building several times.
According to Okaz, the committee investigating the case found that the hospital room featuring in the video had been closed for two weeks, and was only used when the hospital staff could not find a bed for the patient. When the insects were spotted, the patient was moved to another room.
On social media, people criticised the poor condition of the hospital, arguing that KFH was not an exception, and that there are many other similar cases.
Twitter Post
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Translation: Unfortunately, most public hospitals are not clean, and you cannot make appointments or get proper service. It is such a disgrace.
Twitter Post
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Translation: The problem is that most hospitals are in the same condition, and they will remain so because they were not caught on camera.
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