Polyclinic : Most God Damned excuse I Have ever heard!!!
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When a system is inefficient, please stop coming up with BULLCRAP execuses like age of patients!!! If age is the reason, what the FARK are Polyclinics for??? Cater Only for the young so it is faster and shorter waiting time??
Most God Damned excuse I Have ever heard!!!
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Shorter waiting time tops wish list of improvements for polyclinics
By Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 December 2006 1919 hrs
SINGAPORE: Shorter waiting time to see the doctor tops the list of improvements that patients wish to see at polyclinics.
59-year-old Yeo Nam Koon has hypertension and has been going to Geylang Polyclinic, which is under the SingHealth cluster, for the past 4 years.
He said that he has to wait for up to two hours to see the doctor most of the time.
A Health Ministry survey found that patients at Geylang Polyclinic had to wait the longest – up to 175 minutes or almost 3 hours – to see a doctor, from the point of registration to actual consultation.
Some 8,200 patients were polled over a 4-month period for this survey.
Geylang Polyclinic says one reason for the long wait could be its patient profile.
More than 60 percent of its 18,000 patients have chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, which require longer consultation time.
Dr Ruth Lim, Director, Geylang Polyclinic, says: "Many of these patients have complex medical problems with multiple diagnoses. If I have an elderly patient, they actually prefer to do a one-stop visit, which means that at the same visit, they would like to have their lab test, see the nurses, get their eye test or their feet examined, and then see the doctor.
“So all in all, the waiting time would definitely be longer as opposed to a young patient who came in with a simple cough and flu.”
Health Monitoring Station is one way of making better use of patients' waiting time. Usually done in the doctors' clinic, patients with chronic diseases can now check their BMI and blood pressure at this station. This will help free up the doctor's time so that he can devote more time on consultation.
Another measure to cut down waiting time is by encouraging patients with stable health condition to enrol in a remote care programme where patients can SMS or email their blood pressure reading to the polyclinic every three months.
Managing chronic patients well has worked for Pasir Ris Polyclinic which has one of the shortest waiting periods.
Dr Tan Ngiap Chuan, Director, Pasir Ris Polyclinic, says: "If such cases are reduced, we can actually divert our resources to manage other patients. So it's very important that we treat our chronic patients well and when we are able to monitor their condition, we will not have a huge attendance at the clinic."
Other measures adopted by SingHealth polyclinics to cut down waiting time include having a registration and appointment system for immunisation and child development assessment as well as advising patients to avoid peak periods.
The Health Ministry survey also showed that 7 in 10 respondents think polyclinics deliver value-for-money service quality and facilities.
At Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic for example, more than 75 percent of patients were happy with the services, although it is Singapore's busiest, serving more than 27,000 patients.
Over 67 percent of respondents also rated the overall polyclinic experience to be above expectations.
The Health Ministry says that the polyclinics have been trying to improve their services over the years.
More doctors have been deployed to meet rising patient load such as reducing the number of average patient load to 58 patients per doctor per day.
More enhancement of work processes are in the pipeline, including improving the appointment system.
Polyclinics are also using technology such as e-prescription to speed up the consultation processes. – CNA/so -
its partially true. when this news came up at last night's news. I was amazed that they credited Pasir Ris polyclinic for their good work in "managing patients". Its total rubbish. The only reason is because of age and not due to their "management".
Firstly, Pasir Ris is a new town, the concentration of older folks are low and obviously the patients aren't going to comprise of old folks. Secondly when most of the younger folks fall ill, they will go company doctors, and not polyclinics. Hence the polyclinic naturally have lesser patients with long-term illness and not because they manage the patients, don't give wrong credit
And the report goes to say about 75% of the patients felt polyclinic gives value for money. Of course lah, when medical expenses is so high, polyclinic see doctor is still the only means to afford some medical attention. That simply mean, a common folk has no other choice but to go polyclinic because they are the cheapest compared to other medical alternatives, in absolute terms, they are not.
I really dun understand how they can claim credit like this...
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This article is trully indeed, SELF GLORIFICATION in its most classic form!!! -
i normally wait about 30 mins to one hour at bedok polyclinic.
thats my feeling, didnt actually time it.
frankly, you cant rule out the fact that winning time is affected by the medical conditions of patients.
but 3 hrs is a bit ridiculous.
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i stay in geylang east area..so always go geylang polyclinic. e queue was really horrible.. i have to wait at least 1 to 2 hours before i can finally meet my doctor. that's why after taking e doc's queue number, mi mum and i will always go to e nearby foodcourt to eat first before returnin to wait for our turn.
actually there're a lot of doctors(on e board near e registration), but most of them are not in. in e end, e big polyclinic onli got like 3-5 doctors,catering to like hundreds of people -
is the waiting problem unique only to geylang polyclinic?
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Our gov is so ready and eager to declare that we're World Class this and World Class that. Advancements in everything from public transport to Singapore Airlines, and shipping ports.
But when it comes to Public Healthcare, what they call it? Affordable yes, but where's the quality and efficiency???
Everything else receives constant improvements, why is public healthcare left in the doldrums??? It's been so many decades, and up until now, the wait at Polyclinics is still rediculously long!!!
We are sick of lame excuses and reasons. We want to see action to improve quality of Public Healthcare!!!
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Do you know how many patients a polyclinic doctor gets to see in a day? I have worked in a polyclinic before and my record was 120 patients, but I don't think I hold the all-time record.
And it was horrible..even if I had no breaks for toilet and if patients mysteriously apparate one after another in my office, all I had was just 4 mins for each patient in an 8-hour day. If one patient needs more time because he has a complicated medical problem, if you need to do a minor surgical procedure etc, you have even less time for the other patients.
Obviously the examination was far from detailed and I could not allow patients the time to talk about their problems. Patients had to be hurried through their history, a rapid check through the case notes, a quick physical examination and then a quick prescription before pushing them out for the next patient. Totally unsatisfactory for both doctor and patient....but I could clear the crowd. Patients did not have to wait hours to see me but the quality suffers. I have tried the other alternative and gave patients the time and attention they required. But then patients would have to wait for hours..
Many polyclinic doctors left to start their own clinics. If we are going to work so hard for the modest salary we were getting, we might as well work hard for more money in our own clinics. Patients were ungrateful and angry over the long waiting time, despite the fact that doctors were struggling to keep up and do their best. Eventually, leaving the service becomes a very attractive option. With fewer and a high turnover of doctors, polyclinics suffer from a chronic shortage of doctors. The problem is compounded by the increasing number of junior doctors who decide to specialize instead of doing general practice.
There are only two solutions: retain local doctors by increasing remuneration for polyclinic doctors but that is politically disastrous. The public will refuse to understand the problem and will castigate the government for raising salaries for doctors and increasing healthcare costs. The only other solution is to bring in more cheap, foreign doctors into the polyclinics. The government has already taken in doctors from India, Pakistan and Myanmar. But patients complain about communication problems...perhaps it is time to bring in doctors from China as well.
Singaporeans want high quality healthcare quickly and cheaply. There is a streak of gangsterism in their demand...'I want good healthcare and I want it now and I want it cheap. You cannot find anyone to offer such a service? That's your problem 'cos you are the government.'
Since Singaporeans will not pay more and yet want shorter waiting times at the polyclinics, the way forward is to bring in more foreign doctors, particularly from PRC to deal with the non-English educated population. -
i cant believe this statement.Originally posted by ShutterBug:At Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic for example, more than 75 percent of patients were happy with the services, although it is Singapore's busiest, serving more than 27,000 patients.
Over 67 percent of respondents also rated the overall polyclinic experience to be above expectations. -
Then, WHY call it a Polyclinic for the common public???Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Do you know how many patients a polyclinic doctor gets to see in a day? I have worked in a polyclinic before and my record was 120 patients, but I don't think I hold the all-time record.
And it was horrible..even if I had no breaks for toilet and if patients mysteriously apparate one after another in my office, all I had was just 4 mins for each patient in an 8-hour day. If one patient needs more time because he has a complicated medical problem, if you need to do a minor surgical procedure etc, you have even less time for the other patients.
Obviously the examination was far from detailed and I could not allow patients the time to talk about their problems. Patients had to be hurried through their history, a rapid check through the case notes, a quick physical examination and then a quick prescription before pushing them out for the next patient. Totally unsatisfactory for both doctor and patient....but I could clear the crowd. Patients did not have to wait hours to see me but the quality suffers. I have tried the other alternative and gave patients the time and attention they required. But then patients would have to wait for hours..
Many polyclinic doctors left to start their own clinics. If we are going to work so hard for the modest salary we were getting, we might as well work hard for more money in our own clinics. Patients were ungrateful and angry over the long waiting time, despite the fact that doctors were struggling to keep up and do their best. Eventually, leaving the service becomes a very attractive option. With fewer and a high turnover of doctors, polyclinics suffer from a chronic shortage of doctors. The problem is compounded by the increasing number of junior doctors who decide to specialize instead of doing general practice.
There are only two solutions: retain local doctors by increasing remuneration for polyclinic doctors but that is politically disastrous. The public will refuse to understand the problem and will castigate the government for raising salaries for doctors and increasing healthcare costs. The only other solution is to bring in more cheap, foreign doctors into the polyclinics. The government has already taken in doctors from India, Pakistan and Myanmar. But patients complain about communication problems...perhaps it is time to bring in doctors from China as well.
Singaporeans want high quality healthcare quickly and cheaply. There is a streak of gangsterism in their demand...'I want good healthcare and I want it now and I want it cheap. You cannot find anyone to offer such a service? That's your problem 'cos you are the government.'
Since Singaporeans will not pay more and yet want shorter waiting times at the polyclinics, the way forward is to bring in more foreign doctors, particularly from PRC to deal with the non-English educated population.
If you can't provide adequate medical services, say so pr just don't bother and leave it to Red Cross lah!!
Otherwise, the gov should do something CONCRETE to solve this waiting problem!!
Why are they drawing million dollars salaries for???
For Half baked ideas and solutions???
For all the Tax and CPF requirements, of course people will expect RETURNS in form of service!!!!! -
I think that although we would all like to see a cheaper and more efficient healthcare system in Singapore, we should also empathise with oxford mushroom's points. The issue is not simply resolved by throwing money and brain power at it. The system is highly complex and any changes will have potentially great repurcussions. Compared to many other countries such as USA and Britain, I believe our current system is better. Of course there are important shortcomings to be resolved, but I do not believe that ranting would help. So if you have any practical suggestions please do voice out. I'm sure the people up there are not unreasonable. Things would not improve if we just rant and keep any good ideas to ourselves in the belief that they would not be heeded. Even if we fail, at least we can say that it's not for want of genuine effort.
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they asked 4 people and 3 said they are happy, thus 75%.Originally posted by huiz:i cant believe this statement.
the issue is who the 3 people are. -
They asked 100 people but only printed the good ones.Originally posted by dragg:they asked 4 people and 3 said they are happy, thus 75%.
the issue is who the 3 people are.
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i never like to go polyclinic.
doctors treat u like u owe them a living.
i rather pay more than to wait there and risk getting infected with other diseases. -
Yea i went to Geylang East Polyclinic before, the queue is damn long, & it doesn't help even if you reach there early, the doctors haven't even arrive yet & they already issue you the room no. to wait outside.
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No wonder you moved to the UK.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Do you know how many patients a polyclinic doctor gets to see in a day? I have worked in a polyclinic before and my record was 120 patients, but I don't think I hold the all-time record.
And it was horrible..even if I had no breaks for toilet and if patients mysteriously apparate one after another in my office, all I had was just 4 mins for each patient in an 8-hour day. If one patient needs more time because he has a complicated medical problem, if you need to do a minor surgical procedure etc, you have even less time for the other patients.
Obviously the examination was far from detailed and I could not allow patients the time to talk about their problems. Patients had to be hurried through their history, a rapid check through the case notes, a quick physical examination and then a quick prescription before pushing them out for the next patient. Totally unsatisfactory for both doctor and patient....but I could clear the crowd. Patients did not have to wait hours to see me but the quality suffers. I have tried the other alternative and gave patients the time and attention they required. But then patients would have to wait for hours..
Many polyclinic doctors left to start their own clinics. If we are going to work so hard for the modest salary we were getting, we might as well work hard for more money in our own clinics. Patients were ungrateful and angry over the long waiting time, despite the fact that doctors were struggling to keep up and do their best. Eventually, leaving the service becomes a very attractive option. With fewer and a high turnover of doctors, polyclinics suffer from a chronic shortage of doctors. The problem is compounded by the increasing number of junior doctors who decide to specialize instead of doing general practice.
There are only two solutions: retain local doctors by increasing remuneration for polyclinic doctors but that is politically disastrous. The public will refuse to understand the problem and will castigate the government for raising salaries for doctors and increasing healthcare costs. The only other solution is to bring in more cheap, foreign doctors into the polyclinics. The government has already taken in doctors from India, Pakistan and Myanmar. But patients complain about communication problems...perhaps it is time to bring in doctors from China as well.
Singaporeans want high quality healthcare quickly and cheaply. There is a streak of gangsterism in their demand...'I want good healthcare and I want it now and I want it cheap. You cannot find anyone to offer such a service? That's your problem 'cos you are the government.'
Since Singaporeans will not pay more and yet want shorter waiting times at the polyclinics, the way forward is to bring in more foreign doctors, particularly from PRC to deal with the non-English educated population. -
this is only true if you dont mind the money.Originally posted by browniebaobao:i never like to go polyclinic.
doctors treat u like u owe them a living.
i rather pay more than to wait there and risk getting infected with other diseases.
majority of the people who go to polyclinics are the old or the poor.
the cost of a private consultation is easily double that of polyclinics. -
I guess that puts them in the position where if you're poor, you can't complain about what you get.Originally posted by dragg:this is only true if you dont mind the money.
majority of the people who go to polyclinics are the old or the poor.
the cost of a private consultation is easily double that of polyclinics. -
but polyclinic seems to dispense more medication than private doctors.Originally posted by ditzy:I guess that puts them in the position where if you're poor, you can't complain about what you get. -
Dispense more medication, earn more money.Originally posted by dragg:but polyclinic seems to dispense more medication than private doctors.
People already complaining about the high prices of medication from the polyclinics. -
not true leh.Originally posted by charlize:Dispense more medication, earn more money.
People already complaining about the high prices of medication from the polyclinics.
plus the medication the total bill is only around $13-15.
private clinics charge at least $23. -
If they dispense you fcuked up medicine, you can come back for more.Originally posted by dragg:not true leh.
plus the medication the total bill is only around $13-15.
private clinics charge at least $23. -
When GCT was PM, the Government set a quota on the number of medical students who can be admitted to the local University.
Singapore always has more qualified applicants than there are places.
The governmentÂ’s approach was to select a few on the basis of academic results and leave the rest to end up in some other profession.
Some who can afford to go overseas also faced restriction as more overseas medical schools are added to the list of institutions NOT recognized in Singapore.
The 'fear' was that too many doctors would create artificial demand for their services, charging patients for unnecessary tests or treatment.
But now I think his view was very misplaced.
We face now severe doctor shortage because somebody cooked numbers to support a move that was obviously wrong. This is a desperate situation. The government needs to act now because it takes a long time to train a doctor.
Meanwhile, reverse the policy - expand the list of overseas medical schools that Singapore will now recognize and invite more foreign doctors to curb the shortage. -
If I am not wrong , they used to have an agreement with the recognised Australian universities on a restricted quota of Singaporean medical students. Not sure if they abolish it.Originally posted by googoomuck:When GCT was PM, the Government set a quota on the number of medical students who can be admitted to the local University.
Singapore always has more qualified applicants than there are places.
The governmentÂ’s approach was to select a few on the basis of academic results and leave the rest to end up in some other profession.
Some who can afford to go overseas also faced restriction as more overseas medical schools are added to the list of institutions NOT recognized in Singapore.
The 'fear' was that too many doctors would create artificial demand for their services, charging patients for unnecessary tests or treatment.
But now I think his view was very misplaced.
We face now severe doctor shortage because somebody cooked numbers to support a move that was obviously wrong. This is a desperate situation. The government needs to act now because it takes a long time to train a doctor.
Meanwhile, reverse the policy - expand the list of overseas medical schools that Singapore will now recognize and invite more foreign doctors to curb the shortage. -
you are wrong. i have never visited polyclinics again after the first consultation.Originally posted by ditzy:If they dispense you fcuked up medicine, you can come back for more.
but i cant say of private clinics.