Calling for Dr Fathmath Ali Didi to resign!!

Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospitals' Director of Medical Administration Dr Fathmath Ali Didi should resign from her post with immediate effect! She has failed the institution and the general public who she is supposed to serve.

Dr Fathmath Ali Didi has been the head of the medical services at IGMH during its most turbulent and incompetent period in recent times. Failure, scandal, and mismanagement has lead to the hospital being viewed with utter disgust by the man on the street in Maldives. To add to this an obnoxious attitude and gross incompetence in her own professional career has hurt the image of this supposedly "premiere" medical institution of the country.

We, at MMW, have received several emails discussing how she has misinformed and discredited genuine complaints against her staff and institution by many individuals who have suffered the effects of maltreatment and negligence.

Ahmed Naushad whose father was recently admitted at IGMH under her deputy, Dr Yasir, received just 15 minutes of his "precious" time in over 2 weeks of hospital stay. He was tended to by junior doctors and other specialists on the Internal Medicine Department. Unable to and unwilling to tolerate this kind of neglect, Naushad had gone to the CEOs office to complain to Dr Fathmath Ali Didi. Initially he was refused an appointment and was told that F.A. , as she is called in the office, was busy. With no option left, Naushad had barged into the office the next day demanding to be heard. He was heard alright. Neither his complaints nor his fathers medical condition received any attention. Dr Yasir refused to see the patient. Naushad, desperate for adequate medical care for his father, left the hospital and traveled abroad with him.

That is just one story. Naushad's experience is not unique. It is a daily event at the only tertiary care government hospital in the country.

After days of searching, we were able to contact the father of a child who received severe injuries to his leg at the time of removal of a cast! The story was reported in Haveeru and other media outlets. We were told of the way Dr Fathmath Ali Didi abused the father for negligence that day. He had walked into the CEOs office carrying the child to show the injuries sustained. Dr Habeeb, an orthopedic doctor was called to show the wounds. What happened then was shocking for everyone who witnessed the proceedings. Taking turn both Dr Fathmath Ali Didi and Dr Habeed abused the father for creating "havoc" in a government office. The fathers' grievances were brushed aside and he was forcibly removed from the office.

Sickening.

The case of Ali Zakwan, the 10 month old boy who died as a result of mismanagement and neglect at IGMH in 2006, gives us evidence of the under-hand tactics used by Dr Fathmath Ali Didi to disregard the parents complaints. MMW has received reports from a source within IGMH, whose identity we promised to protect, that although an internal inquiry into the case found that the institution had failed miserably and that mismanagement and neglect contributed to the sad outcome, Dr Fathmath Ali Didi masterminded a cover-up by hiding the report of the committee and cooking up another more favorable one. The report is shelved at IGMH and has not been made available to the courts or lawyers. Furthermore, Dr George John, who was identified by the report as the person who mismanaged the case was allowed to leave the country while the court case was ongoing!

Dr Fathmath Ali Didi was also responsible for the several internal discord that arose within IGMH, especially involving the now infamous "group of concerned doctors" because of her inability to effectively run the institute.

The recent case of two senior doctors wrongly suspended for voicing concerns about the improper management of admitted cases in the Pediatric ward was also perpetrated by Dr Fathmath Ali Didi. She had acted on self interest, opting to punish two people who had openly questioned her competence and commitment, by cooking up stories about the two. Thanks to the pressure from the general public and "group of concerned doctors" the two good doctors are back to work, angering Dr Fathmath Ali Didi and her masters Dr Firdous and Dr Naila.

IGMH under the leadership of Dr Mohamed Solih has suffered great loss of public support and the institutional commitment of its prime service providers; the doctors. His policies and the evil devil incarnate and incompetent Dr Fathmath Ali Didi have a lot to answer for. But first we demand that they either resign from their posts or be disgracefully discharged from them!

Report filed by Shizmeena Thahir