17 officials at Benghazi Medical Center were suspended and referred for investigation

The Office of the Public Prosecutor in Benghazi issued a decision to suspend and refer 17 officials at the Benghazi Medical Center for investigation, led by the center’s general director, to investigate several charges, the most important of which is wasting public money and misusing and trading expired medications, after the committee in charge of investigating facts at the medical center submitted its report.

A memorandum, a copy of which was obtained by Bawabat al-Wasat, confirmed that the 17 officials were charged with several charges, including the low level of services provided to citizens in the departments (emergency, outpatient clinics, shelter, and care). Due to the negligence and negligence of department directors in the pharmacy and nursing departments, the inspection and follow-up office, the security and safety department, the medical affairs department and the radiology department, the committee also found that there were expired medications and medical supplies.

Financial and technical notes
According to the fact-finding report, several financial and technical observations were made about disbursement from the improvement and development item, which revealed the supply of medicines and medical supplies at very high prices compared to the prices in the local market, and the presence of unclear display invoices in terms of the form of packaging, as well as the delay in receiving medicines and medical supplies. The Director General of the Center intervened to release medications held by the Control Authority in Tripoli, supply idle surgical tables and others that do not match the serial number displayed on the original invoice, request medications that are not related to critical and necessary cases (mouth rinses), and purchase medications even though large quantities of them are in stores. The report stated that the head of the tender committee was a person working in the private sector, with deception by the center’s management, which resulted in legal and administrative violations.

The violations included contracting with doctors from within the Benghazi Medical Center after official working hours as a visiting doctor, and using medical and auxiliary staff without paying the value of their dues specified in the decision. Most of the operations that were performed at the center could have been performed during the official working hours with Libyan staff and without Opposite.

The report explained that during the visit of the visiting doctor, Dr. Ivo Bacca, in early 2018, there was no detailed report on the operations he performed during the visit, and the prices of the medical services companies (Al-Fursan and Al-Nour) and the prices of tickets in Egypt and Tunisia (transportation and accommodation) were exaggerated.

The memorandum explained that a defect was observed in the recruitment of medical and paramedical personnel affiliated with hospitals (Al-Jumhuriya – October 7 – Al-Hawari), failure to adhere to the schedule regulating their work, a lack of efficiency in the paramedical personnel, and a severe shortage of health assistants.

According to the memorandum, based on the above, conducting investigations into the above crimes requires investigating several people accused of abusing office authority, negligence in preserving public funds, using public funds entrusted to them for purposes other than their intended purpose, and circulating expired medicines and medical materials.

List of accused
The list of defendants includes the Chairman of the Benghazi Medical Center Tenders Committee, the Vice-Chairman of the Committee, the Legal Member, the Technical Member, the Financial Member, the General Director of the Center, the Director of the Pharmacy and Medical Supply Department, the Director of the Nursing Department, the Director of the Inspection and Follow-up Office, the Head of the Security and Safety Department, the Head of the Medical Affairs Department, and the Head of the Department. Former radiologist, current head of the radiology department, head of the center’s legal office, financial controller, director of financial affairs, and director of administrative affairs.

The memorandum called for hearing the statements of several people in their capacity as witnesses and members of the committee that inspected and relied on all the papers and documents proving the violations. “The investigation also requires the assignment of an accounting expert from the Center for Judicial Expertise and Research to determine prices, and notifying the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health of the persons included in the investigation, and the Doctors Syndicate.” Regarding the doctors to be investigated, and the need for all persons to appear before the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Benghazi.

In mid-March, the interim government directed to open an urgent investigation and hold accountable the negligent officials at the Benghazi Medical Center, after the violations it observed at the time.

related

comments