|
|
 Re: د.زهير السراج يكتب حول سوء معاملة الأطباء للمرضى (Re: مكي النور)
|
DIRECTORATE OF MEDICINE
Health Care of Older People Department
William Harvey Hospital
Kensington Road
Willesborough
Ashford
Kent TN24 0LZ
Tel: 01233 616801
Consultants: Fax: 01233 616662
Dr David G Smithard BSc MD FRCP (Stroke)
Dr Stephen Cheek MRI BSc FRCP (Cardiac/Hypertension)
Dr Jamal Hossain MB BS FRCP (Gastroenterology/Ortho-geriatrics)
Dr Jonathon Hawkins FRCP (Parkinson’s disease in the Elderly), HCOOP Site Lead
Dr K C Li FRCP (Falls/Therapeutics)
Dr Rashid Ahmed MRCP Locum ( stroke)
Dr Yvonne Morrissey MA MD FRCP (Buckland Hospital)
Secretary: Mrs. Rose Robertson
RA/RR
29th September 2006
Dr Fatima Farah
Khartoum Teaching Hospital
Khartoum
Sudan
Dear Dr Farah
ZENAB AWAD DARAG – Deceased
You are aware that now my Aunt (Zenab) is dead [left 2 orphan sons], but sadly and shamefully, without knowing the real cause of her death. I am writing this letter to ask you how do you live with your conscience and how do you judge your performance looking after her over two months until the day of her death whereby your own measures of simple basic medical practice have been poorly applied from start to finish in all aspects of management including diagnosis, investigations, treatment, monitoring and communications with relatives.
I thought your specialty was liver disease but I think you fail miserably in your management of Zenab’s jaundiced condition. Your example is the tip of the iceberg in the poor and corrupted medical practice in Sudan where the poor and weak and needy are exploited by the intellectual who become so reckless, irresponsible, negligent and arrogant, charging large sums of money but towards poor service and without caring about the outcome of their patients. I believe this malpractice is being left to carry on because everyone is afraid of confrontation in addition to lack of transparency, intimidation and cover up in addition to complacency and ignorance of the public about their right to complaint about medical mistakes and negligent doctors and health professionals , so they can continue to behave like God, encouraged largely by the lack of system and inefficient regulatory bodies, lack of persecution and most by failure of personal conscience and lack of professionalism of the human nature in our job.
Zenab had been under your care for almost two months but you failed to identify the cause of her illness for the first few weeks by not ordering the right investigations, imaging studies or give the appropriate treatment. You left her to carry on until she developed liver failure which was obvious when I came to see her ten days before her death. I believe you failed even to give her the liver regime which is normally known to every medical student. I believe you were upset when I asked somebody else for their opinion because I was worried about further consequences of her being under your care, but I was trying to be polite when I sought a second opinion rather than taking her away from your poor management and incompetence because you were my senior, and I did not want to embarrass you in front of your juniors and medical students. However, when you were rude and not prepared to talk to me in privacy I had no alternative but to raise my voice. You mentioned in our snap chat that you had worked in England, but I would like to say one simple comment – your performance throughout this case would not qualify you to do that. You would have been exposed, not just by the patient or their relatives but by your own staff like nurses and junior doctors. Here I wish to praise the surgical team in particular Mr Mohamed Yousif AL Alim for his sincere professionalism, kindness, respect and effective communication skills which has given me lots of hope that there are still good, caring and conscious medics. In his short involvement Mr Mohamed had seen the deceased more than you and he was contactable quite easily via his team and his mobile phone. He had spoken to me in privacy and with respect explaining their suspected diagnosis, next investigation and options of treatment.
I work as a Consultant Physician in U.K. for nearly 10 years, and I am used to the confrontation by outraged and unhappy patients and relatives, but we never talk to them in the way you spoke to me, as we feel that doctors are in a strong position while the patients and their relatives are in a weakened position because of their suffering. We are the ones who should do everything to relieve their pain and suffering. This is just one of the lessons I have learned here and I feel it should be the main principle of every caring doctor.
Again I would like to mention to you that your communication skills are absolutely zero and I was not surprised that one of your registrars was also behaving in a completely irresponsible manner and I think she is unfit to be a registrar or to be a future consultant as she refused to see Zenab when I asked her to. However, I would not be surprised if you are her consultant and supervisor, as I wonder where she will get the proper teaching and advice within the absence of a role model. When I was a medical practitioner in Sudan I used to care for my sick patients and follow them closely all day, seven days a week. I left the country 15 years ago when there were no resources which left me a useless Doctor, seeing patients dying in front of me without being able to do anything, so I am surprised now you do have all these resources [modern laboratories and imaging centers], but unfortunately with no Ethics and responsibility this will come to nothing and consequently in more exploitation and abuse of the weak and needy.
I am writing this letter as a very angry relative who has lost his Aunt in this way, but also someone who is extremely concerned by poor medical practice, lack of credibility and accountability.
From this moment and on, the death of Zenab will not be another waste or victim of medical negligence any more. This is a stark warning for Doctors and Health Professionals of your category to keep watching their backs because enough is enough. By the way the family in their way of launching a major complaint, so be ready!!!!!!!!!!
I shall look forward for your speedy and appropriate response for hopefully would be your last medical misadventure.
Dr R A G Ahmed MBBS MRCP DIP IN THERAPEUTICS
Locum Consultant Physician in Medicine for the Elderly
Email; [email protected]
cc Mr. Salah Abdelrazig
General Manager, Khartoum Teaching Hospital
Professor Mammon Humida
President of Sudanese Physicians Society
The Khartoum Academy
International office
Royal College of Physicians
London
Dr Tabita Boutros
Minister of Health- Khartoum
Dr Abdullah Sidahmed
Under secretary-Ministry of Health
President of Medical Council – Sudan
Sudanese doctors Association- Sudan
| |
 
|
|
|
|
wadalzain
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست