Logged for future reference 1

A couple of letters which appeared in the ST Forum this week seem to me to be worth noting, namely this one from a patient, and this one from Dr Thirumoorthy.

I reproduce them in full for future reference because I expect replies to be made over the next few days.


Are subsidised patients treated by specialists?

I WAS relieved to note that the committee on ageing has recommended, among other things, topping up Medisave accounts so that the aged need not worry too much about medical costs.

The ability to pay for medical expenses is only one aspect of ensuring good medical care for the aged. More important is quality and access to specialists for chronic medical conditions.

Most of the aged get medical care at the polyclinics, which may refer them to specialists.

This sounds good but as subsidised patients, do they actually see a specialist or just a medical officer at the specialist outpatient clinics (SOC) in the hospitals?

The truth is that most of them are seen by a medical officer and not a specialist.

The current practice is that polyclinic referrals to the SOC are made by a medical officer who decides whether specialist referral is necessary.

This results in a long waiting time at the specialist clinics.

To get a quick appointment with a specialist, one must be upgraded to be a private patient, who will be charged private rates for the consultation, tests and medicine.

I note that the hospitals provide different standards for subsidised and private patients.

The specialist clinic for private patients has well-appointed waiting areas and expensive decor, while the clinic for subsidised patients has plastic chairs in a cramped room.

As a subsidised patient, I was privileged to be treated by a very senior consultant during my regular visits until two years ago.

Since then, although my appointment was made under the consultant's name, I was attended to by a medical officer.

The reason, I was often told by the nurse, was that the consultant was busy. What's worse was that I was charged a consultant's fee.

To me, good quality medical care and equal treatment at hospitals are more important than just having the money to pay for medical services required by elderly folk.

Henry Lim


I'll reproduce Dr Thirumoorthy's letter in the next entry.