SAUDI ARABIA

Citizens lament shabby state of Taif pediatric hospital

Immediate implementation of hospital tower project sought

March 14, 2018

Khaled Al-Diyabi



Okaz/Saudi Gazette

TAIF – People of Taif have complained about the poor condition of the Children’s Hospital in the city, saying it is incapable of providing good care to children due to a lack of doctors and medical equipment. “The hospital itself has become a patient,” one of them said while criticizing its poor conditions.

Citizens have expressed their dismay over the flagrant negligence of the authorities toward the hospital, which serves children in Taif and surrounding areas. They also asked about the fate of the children’s hospital tower promised by the Health Ministry.

They pointed out that the hospital carried out some repair works with money donated by the doctors.

Saqr Al-Otaibi spoke about the hospital’s substandard facilities and services. “The patients are put on uncomfortable steel beds,” he said while also criticizing bad hygiene at the hospital. “I am afraid of taking my children to this hospital because of the shabby conditions and substandard facilities there,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

Al-Otaibi said the hospital was renovated three times, spending huge amounts of money that were enough to build a model hospital in the city. “We hope the Health Ministry would do everything possible to improve the hospital’s condition and services,” he added.

Al-Otaibi also urged the ministry to implement the hospital tower project, which it promised several years ago. “The present building of the pediatric hospital was used by King Faisal Hospital before it moved to a new building,” he said.

Hani Al-Sufyani spoke about crowding of patients at the hospital as it serves patients from Taif as well as many nearby towns and villages. “There is an acute shortage of staff and equipment at the hospital. It lacks facilities to absorb all the patients transferred there from other public hospitals and primary healthcare centers,” he explained.

“There is a shortage of doctors in the emergency section,” Al-Sufyani pointed out. He stressed the need to complete the hospital tower to meet the requirements of a growing number of patients.

Tariq Al-Quthami spoke about the problems he faced when he took his child to the hospital. “I could find only a single nurse at the emergency room of the hospital when I took my child there for the treatment of a pulmonary inflammation,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

He urged the ministry to support the hospital by appointing sufficient numbers of doctors and nurses as well as by providing necessary medical equipment.

Khaled Bin Saeed pointed to the worsening condition of the hospital. “I know that some doctors carried out repair works at the hospital at their personal expense. The cleaning company contracted by the hospital does not do its duty properly, he added.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Abdulhadi Al-Rubaiee, spokesman for the Health Affairs in Taif, said the ministry has already purchased a plot of land near King Faisal Hospital to build the Children’s Hospital Tower. “Work on the project will start as soon as the funds are allocated,” he said.


March 14, 2018
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