No tolerance regarding public health: Obaidi
KUWAIT: Minister of Health Dr Ali Al-Obaidi stressed that the ministry give no tolerance towards medical errors, adding that he was in his position to protect the health of both citizens and expatriates, and develop health services in Kuwait.
“The issue of medical errors is one of my top priorities and any related complaint filed to my office about medical or nursing negligence will be immediately referred to the ministry’s legal affairs department for investigation,” Obaidi explained, noting that neutral committees are formed to investigate such complaints. “A patient is always presumed right until investigations are concluded,” he underscored.
Moreover, Obaidi underlined that medical errors happen everywhere worldwide because “those who work make mistakes and those who do not, never make any.” “This does not mean tolerating medical errors,” he remarked, pointing out that each death case while patients are hospitalized is subject to investigation by a specialized committee to determine the cause of death and whether they happened due to natural causes, or resulting from health complications so that any staff member proved responsible could be held legally accountable. “According to the Journal of Patients’ Safety reports in 2013, 440,000 have died in the United States, and 40,000 died in the United Kingdom because of medical errors,” he added, noting that around 17,000 also died in Germany in 2010 for the same reasons. Responding to a question about being the first member of the cabinet to file his disclosure statement, Obaidi stressed that such a step was his duty because he had ‘nothing to hide.’ —Al-Rai