People of al-Suwayda suffer the deterioration of the health situation

Al-Suwayda – North-Press Agency

Jibran Marouf  

People of Al-Suwayda governorate, southern Syria suffer the deterioration of the medical services in both public and private hospitals, due to the lack of the medical staff and the poor medical devices. 

Disrespect of work   

Khaled H, from al-Suwayda told North-Press that, "A few days ago my father got sick in the midnight, I took him into the National Hospital and they put him in the cardiac care unit immediately. He was suffering from a heart infarction, but the calamity was that the doctor of the nightshift wasn't present in the hospital, but he was asleep in his house.”

"When we asked the nurses about him, they told us that the specialized doctors in the hospital don't often stay in the hospital during their shifts, and if any emergency occurs, we contact them,” he added.     

Khaled went on saying: "When my father arrived to the hospital, the nurses called the doctor, but without answering, so we took his home address and went to his house and brought him with us to the hospital. We almost lost my father's life, because he wanted to hit him a needle that must not be given to those of his age. If we weren't in direct contact with his doctor in Damascus, we would have lost him.”

He added: "Four days later, they took him out of the hospital and told us that his case was stabilized and he only needed a little relief, but two days later, he became sick again, so we took him this time to a hospital in Damascus, where they performed a catheter and install networks, and today his condition is generally better.”

Bad diagnosis   

Abu Yamen, from the countryside of al-Suwayda complained about the situation of the hospital, saying: "I swear it is prohibited to describe al-Suwayda Hospital as a hospital, nor I don't believe that many of the medical staff have got certificates. A few days ago, my son fell on his foot, so I took him to the hospital, after the radiographs, they told me he had torn ligaments and he needed a bandage and a rest for a week." 

He added: "I didn't feel the boy had improved, where the tumor didn't disappear. Four days later, I took him to a private radiographic center, where the image showed there was a split in his foot, but it didn't appear in the hospital image, because of the poor quality of the devices or the poor skills of the supervisor, as a result, they put a cast for his feet.”

Devices needing maintenance  

While Said M., from the southern countryside of al-Suwayda said: “We have in Shalkhad Hospital, which is a public board whose work hardly exceeds the capabilities of a health clinic, as it lacks most medical specialties, so health cases which reach them are transferred to the National Hospital in al-Suwayda.”

"The medical devices are often broken or need maintenance, for example, when we need to do medical tests, they transfer us to a private laboratory, in addition to that, many devices give inaccurate results, if they weren't broken,” he added.   

He pointed out that, "the biggest problem of many doctors who take advantage of their work in the hospital and press the citizen to the point of extortion in order to take fees for surgeries, so there are patients who believe that if they don't go to the doctor's private clinic, there may be less care for them.”

He also noted that, "the same thing applies to the National Hospital in al-Suwayda, where in addition to the surgeries, preferring patients by the doctors to others who enter the hospital directly, and charging fees in their private clinics, there are legal midwives who are paid for natural childbirth, which was between 7,000 SYP and 10,000 SYP before now, as I don’t know if the price has increased after the last price increase.”

Significant corruption

Sources in Salkhad Hospital indicated that there is significant corruption affecting the procurement and maintenance committees, reaching tens of millions annually. What is surprising is that despite the fact that more than one investigation was conducted by official supervisory authorities, but no legal action has been taken. 

Concerning the private hospitals, Abu Salman Khedr, from al-Suwayda said: "The private hospitals in al-Suwayda aren't different from the public ones except at their very high prices, while the buildings or the equipment don't deserve to be called as hospitals, even the hygiene is at its lowest levels.”

"There is no control over the health care in al-Suwayda. Most of the doctors who are distinguished by their experience and humanity have left Syria, while you can find the remaining busy in real estate trading or visiting restaurants and cafes, pursuing money and forgetting the most prominent features of their profession, which is humanity.”