The Maldivian Medical Association in a crisis

The bi-election held on 2nd February 2008 to fill the post of President of the association, left vacant following the shock resignation of Dr Abdulla Niyaf in October 2007, has failed to elect anyone for the post. The results of the election are on display in the lift lobby of IGMH and shows Dr Didi (Dental Didi) failing to get the required number of votes to get elected. Dr Didi reportedly got less than 40% of the vote. Incidentally, Dr Niyaf was elected to the post by a 100% of the electorate.

We are made to understand that Dr Niyaf had handed in his resignation in October 2007, during his now infamous suspension from IGMH (along with his close friend and colleague Dr Ismail Shafeeu) for standing up for the rights of the patients and expressing concerns regarding the way Dr A C Bhagwat was treating pediatric in-patients at IGMH. A close friend of Dr Niyaf, who himself has refused to discuss the issue any further, told us that in his resignation letter Dr Niyaf had expressed that he no longer wished to continue to represent certain elements within the association who were working to harm him, his career and his family's well-being. This is believed to be a reference to Dr Mohamed Solih, Dr Fathmath Ali Didi and Dr Mohamed Firdous, who in addition to being members of the association are senior administrator of IGMH. It is believed by many that the suspension was a means of silencing Dr Niyaf and harming his reputation as a leader. Unfortunately, his resignation seemingly has achieved the target set by the administrative elements.

Many of the senior members of the association claim that the association was left in this state because Dr Niyaf had been too hasty in handing in his resignation. Many of his colleagues and the public blame internal hospital politics and dirty tactics by IGMH admin in the suspension of Dr Niyaf that had led to him abandoning the association.

Following Dr Niyaf's resignation, many of the projects of MMA have been left abandoned. Their website remains un-updated and their publications "beys-sitee" and "Prescription" have failed to get further editions to print either.

Dental Didi's failure at the elections is being viewed by many members of the association as a huge blow to the credibility of the association. The association has lost it voice in recent months, failing to carry out any activity or projects in that time. The influence it has on the health sector seems to be at an all-time low. Even the "group of concerned doctors" the unofficial pressure group of the association has apparently disbanded.

The Maldivian Medical Association is an important NGO and a fellow watch-dog that needs to regroup to ensure that medical profession is free from undue influences, doctors return to professionally sound ethics in their practice and that the rights of the patients and doctors are protected. We look forward to a resurrected MMA that gains back the trust of the public and the professionals who are its members.

We urge the elected members of the governing body of the association to revive the vital body, get its members united and return to working on changing the system that is sick to the bone and on its death bed.

NB: We would like to congratulate Dr Ashraf (Urologist) for securing enough votes to win the seat of treasurer.

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

What will the new year bring?

The year ending tonight has been one which has brought much suffering to many of us, not just because of illness, but a lot because of the great many inadequacies in our health system. The cost of human loss cannot be quoted in currency, but the cost of poor health, illnesses and neglect of a system would be beyond comprehension.

Minister Ilyas has failed to deliver an improvement to the health system worth anything more than a few name boards labeled "Health Center" or "Atoll Hospital". His team at the Ministry has managed to hold back the health care standard of the country at the same place as was at a decade earlier. The medical people with him, Dr Abdula Azeez Yousuf, Dr Sheena and Dr Ahmed Razee have done little more than draw 3-4 salaries per month!!!

The truly sick in the islands, die at the hands of either incompetent health care providers or a competent provider rendered incompetent by an inadequate health care infrastructure. We are witness to the desperate cries of those who have been left to tend for themselves, we are among them ourselves.

Our premier health institution, IGMH, has won not our hearts, but our anger and hatred for its display of contempt with our needs and wishes. It is little wonder that IGMH has had within its premises mob violence disrupt its services and physical assault cause injuries to staff. The failings of the administration and the inability of it high ranked officials to discharge their responsibilities were at least partly responsible for these events. Deaths, medical negligence, maltreatment and all sorts of medical errors at the institution have made their ways to the news headlines. It speaks volumes about the intentions of the management of the hospital when 2 doctors were suspended for voicing concerns about malpractices happening within the Hospital. Dr Mohamed Solih, Dr Fathmath Ali Didi, Dr Yasir and Ali Mohamed (Alibe') are responsible for the sickening state of affair at IGMH.

Can we expect anything different in the new year? Realistically the chances of that are very little. The system headed by the same individuals from the very top to the middle management level are corrupt, incompetent, selfish and untrustworthy.

One thing will be different though! We will be less tolerant of their criminal handling of our welfare in the coming year. We pledge that we will do all that we can to make sure that we hold them accountable to the people of this country. We have all suffered enough. We deserve better. We demand better.

Non-standard ultrasonography

My wife was 6months pregnant at that time when we went to Kulunu Medical Services for a scan appointment. The sonologist on duty was Dr Fathmath Ali Didi. The scan was done. The only thing she said to us was that "baby was normal" and that "everything was fine". Two and a half months later when baby was delivered, he had gross multiple physical anomalies!
[Received by Email]

Dr Fathmath Ali Didi is the Director of Medical Administration at IGMH, an MBBS graduate who has risen through the ranks initially because of her influential family and now because of the ease with which she can be manipulated by policy makers.

We have been able to confirm that for the past many years she has been a practicing sonologist performing the "job" of PG Radiologists both at the government setup and in private practice. She is however, not a radiologist and has nothing more than the experience of attending a single certificate course on basic ultrasonography years ago. We have been told, and we believe too, that she has over the years acquired skills in operating the ultrasound scan machine and is able to do basic scans.

Nevertheless, lets us not be fooled into believing that she is at all qualified to do complex sonography. The scan referred to in the email had missed fairly gross physical anomalies that should have been seen by the sonographer. We wonder how many such errors had resulted from scans performed by herself and fellow wannabe-radiologist Dr Yaganegi.

We called IGMH to find out what post Dr Fathmath Ali Didi holds within the radiology department. The PRC girl said "she is a consultant". Our contact within the Personnel Department was able to confirm that she held no official post in the radiology department at IGMH. Her posts include Director of Medical Administration and Registrar in Internal Medicine. We have also learned that her qualification is listed as MBBS only. She is not a specialist physician and her post of Registrar in Internal Medicine came as a shock to us. We were made to understand that these types of extra posts were common for high level administrative staff and that it was a way of them earning a higher salary. Incidentally- Dr Yaganegi is also only an MBBS graduate.

One of staff at IGMH reported that Dr Fathmath Ali Didi only does scans when there is a shortage of Radiologists and that she is "usually quite Ok" with obstetric scans. The truth became apparent when we called CEOs office, where her office is. The person who answered said that she was on scan duty at the time and to call later!

This case highlights a serious breach of trust that should exist between service provider and patients. Individuals working in professional capacities well beyond their capabilities and medical qualifications is a serious issue. It could cause serious damage and grievances for patients. From the email, it is evident that it has already happened.