The British Consul-General to Jeddah, Mohamed Shawkat, has affirmed that the health services provided for pilgrims are of very high standard. They are provided by highly qualified and experienced medical teams, in addition to the advanced health institutions. Therefore, the British authorities found it unnecessary to send an official medical team accompanying the British Hajj Mission.
Shawkat said, “We have evaluated the impressive health investment in the two holy cities (Makkah and Madinah), as well as other Hajj Sites, and assessed the level of health services provided for pilgrims at the health facilities of such sites. The British authorities came up with the conclusion that there is no need to send an official medical mission to accompany the British Hajj Mission. This, of course, indicates that the high level of health services provided for all pilgrims of all nationalities are pretty satisfactory for British pilgrims, if need be.”
“However,” the Consul-General added, “this doesn't meant that the British Hajj Mission is void of any physicians or nurses. Actually the mission is accompanied by a volunteer medical group, headed by Lord Adam Battle, formed by a popular initiative and the consolidation of efforts of the British Muslims intending to perform the Hajj, out of their sense of responsibility towards themselves as pilgrims. The members of this volunteer group are assigned to provide the necessary health aid in emergent and mild cases, while referring critical or susceptible cases to MOH facilities to receive a higher standard of healthcare.”
In a related context, the Consul-General lauded the services provided by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in other domains (security, transport, housing, communication, provision of food supplies, etc.) for over three million pilgrims every year, which contributed a great deal to fulfill pilgrims' aspiration to a comfortable Hajj.
Shawkat mentioned that the number of British pilgrims is estimated to be about 23.000 pilgrims, which is same number o pilgrims over the past few years, in accordance with the annual quota devoted for British pilgrims, which is 23.000.
Moving on to the troubles facing British pilgrims, the Consul-General emphasized that they are normal troubles that might face pilgrims hailing from all over the world, such as the loss of documents and replacing them with another copy to be able to move through the Kingdom and return to home. Other troubles could be the occurrence of normal deaths, which require the local relevant authorities to issue the necessary documents to move and bury corpses as soon as possible.
Mr. Shawkat went on to say that solving such problems comprises most of the services provided by the British Consulate in Jeddah, in cooperation with the British Embassy in Riyadh. He made clear that all the problems facing British pilgrims are immediately redressed by the British Consulate Hajj Team, in close coordination with all the Saudi authorities, most importantly the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Hajj, among others. “Among the indications of such coordination is that when four British pilgrims normally died, they were buried in the Holy Sites upon their request they had submitted prior to death, in close cooperation and coordination with the Saudi relevant authorities,” the Consul-General said, concluding his statement.