Saudi health minister apologizes to woman for saying 'busy'

Saudi Arabia's health minister apologized to a local woman just a day after he refused to see her for her sick son, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Khalid Al Fatih was visiting a government hospital in the capital Riyadh when the Saudi woman rushed and asked to see him to tell him about her ill nine-year-old son.

But he told the woman he did not have time to see her as he was busy inspecting the hospital and other medical centres in the city.

"I received an apology on the next day from the minister... it was conveyed to me by the health ministry's spokesman... I am happy for this because such a step will contribute to improving medical services and preserving the patients' rights," the unnamed woman said, quoted by the Arabic language daily Sada.

The paper said the minister's apology followed a series of decisions by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz sacking a number of ministers and other officials for their poor performance.

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