Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Chapter V — Events at Salmaniya Medical Complex
755. The Head of Nursing at one SMC ward stated that she was with one
of the accused doctors on 14 March 2011 when he treated two naturalised
Bahrainis, and that one of them required an operation but the patient’s father
did not agree to have the operation performed. 368
756. The GoB has suggested that the overall drop in the number of patients
treated at SMC during February and March 2011 indicates that discrimination
occurred at SMC. It is claimed that this proves that patients were too afraid to
attend SMC due to the events occurring there. The Head of the Emergency
Section at SMC stated that the number of individuals admitted daily dropped
from approximately 1000 to approximately 400 during the events, showing
that the events were preventing or scaring patients from reaching SMC. 369 He
further stated that people were afraid of entering the hospital, even in the
regular and outpatient clinics. An X-ray specialist stated that while nobody
was denied treatment by doctors, many Sunnis were afraid to come to SMC
due to the protests in the car park. 370
757. The accused medical personnel have a different interpretation of the
drop in the number of admissions. One SMC doctor, who was also a Defence
witness, stated that patient numbers dropped during the period in question
because minor injuries were no longer accepted. 371
758. One accused doctor presented a file to the Commission that includes a
copy of a memorandum sent by her and the Chairman of Surgery on 20
February 2011 requesting the official reduction of inpatient major and minor
elective cases in order to make more beds available for any emergencies. 372
The memorandum was also sent to the Chief of Staff.
759. One of the accused doctors submitted a written statement in which he
stated:
[T]he number of patients during the February-March period was
comparatively less compared to previous months but this is selfexplanatory
in view of what the country went through during that
period. For example, 1580 373 surgeries were performed during the
month of February 2011, which is comparative to the number of
surgeries performed in February 2010; which is equal to 1808. On
the contrary 1169 surgeries were performed in March 2011, while
2245 surgeries were performed in March 2010. 374
760. He also stated that with the exception of 14, 17 and 18 February and
13-16 March 2011, when work was partially disrupted due to the events:
368
Minutes of court hearing of 7 September 2011 in Case No. 191 of 2011 (Defence witness
statements).
369
Interview with the Commission, 30 July 2011.
370
Interview with the Commission, 30 July 2011.
371
Minutes of court hearing on 7 September 2011 in Case No. 191 of 2011 (Defence witness
statements).
372
Witness statement provided to the Commission, 4 August 2011.
373
See also file presented to the Commission by SMC entitled “Salmaniya Medical Complex
Statistics between 14 February and 22 March 2011”.
374
Statement provided to the Commission, 10 September 2011.
193