JEDDAH — Rabigh General Hospital does not have enough resources to save the lives of traffic accident victims, several citizens were quoted by Makkah daily as saying.

Citizens said some of their relatives who were involved in traffic accidents and were referred to the hospital died due a lack of neurologists and neurosurgeons and proper equipment.

Fahad Abed said his father was involved in a traffic accident five months ago and was taken to the intensive care unit of the Rabigh General Hospital. Abed added his father had blood clots that needed to be removed using a tube but the hospital later referred him to King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah.

He claimed that the hospital in Jeddah found the tube was not administered properly and his father died a few hours later.

Faleh Al-Youbi said his son was involved in a traffic accident last week and sustained head injuries that required immediate examination by a neurologist who was not available.

Al-Youbi submitted a complaint to Jeddah Health Affairs, which decided to send a consultant to examine the case; however, his son died before he could be examined.

The head of Rabigh General Hospital, Dr. Abdullah Al-Shehri, would not comment on the report and said questions should be directed to Jeddah Health Affairs because, he said, he was not authorized to appear in the media.

The head of Jeddah Health Affairs, Dr. Sami Badawood, admitted that they could not find neurologists and neurosurgeons to work in Rabigh General Hospital.

He said: “We hired some consultants but they left their jobs after only four months. Later we sent a consultant to Rabigh as a temporary solution until we can find a permanent consultant.”

However, Badawood denied there was a lack of equipment to administer emergency aid at the hospital.