Rabat – A Moroccan MP has called for an urgent parliamentary debate on the quality of services and resources in the country’s intensive care units (ICUs).
Rachid Hamouni, head of the Progress and Socialism Parliamentary Group called on the parliament to allow his parliamentary team to take the floor at the end of the weekly session to discuss an urgent and general issue concerning the quality of services and the availability of resources in the intensive care units in Moroccan hospitals.
“This request is timely in light of recent public discussions regarding a technical malfunction that affected the oxygen supply systems at the Moulay Youssef Hospital in Rabat, which may have been a direct or indirect cause,” the MP said in his request letter.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Health issued a statement addressing public outrage over reports of a power outage at the hospital.
The statement came after reports said four patients at the hospital died after a technical failure in the oxygen supply system.
The ministry denied the news, saying that two deaths were recorded due to complications from patients’ underlying illnesses rather than the brief technical issue that affected the hospital’s oxygen supply.
“The first occurred two and a half hours after the technical failure; while the second occurred more than four hours later, the investigation showed,” the minister said.
Hamouni said the party’s parliamentary team acknowledged the ministry’s clarifying statement.
“The general and urgent nature of this issue stems from the fact that intensive care units, which must be equipped with the necessary resources and quality services in all of our country’s hospitals due to their critical role in safeguarding the right to life of patients, require the highest medical vigilance, essential technical capabilities and constant presence of medical and nursing staff,” the statement said.
The conditions were not met in several cases recorded by the public in multiple instances and in different regions, the statement said.
