34 officials of Khanka Hospital to be tried over death of 10 patients

CAIRO - 30 October 2018: A total of 34 officials of Khanka Mental Health Hospital were referred Tuesday, Oct. 30 to an urgent trial for dereliction of duty that led to the death of 10 patients.

In August 2015, 10 patients died inside the hospital of heat exhaustion, as a heat wave struck Egypt at the time, in addition to the heat intolerance side effect of mental health medications.

The former director of the hospital, his two deputies, four doctors, director and undersecretary of the nurses department, 23 nurses, head of the patient affairs department and an officer in the same department will all be tried.

A number of doctors left the hospital or did not attend their shifts despite the deteriorating conditions of the patients, and all mental health medications were suspended for all patients, even those who did not suffer a temperature, according to investigations.

Amid lack of proper ventilation, working air conditioners, cold water, and follow up, nurses only realized the patients had a temperature when it reached 40 degrees.

The iconic hospital in Qalyubia governorate, north of Cairo, is government-owned and mostly free. Alongside Abbassiya Mental Health Hospital, the two massive institutions provide mental health care to hundreds of people.