Originally posted by eagle:got extra service a not
depends on what extra service you want. got money can alr.
but u got energy for anything after surgery meh?
Originally posted by deathmaster:
depends on what extra service you want. got money can alr.but u got energy for anything after surgery meh?
room service
like hotel like that, can call to order food that kind of service. After surgery need more food to replenish
Originally posted by deathmaster:so, would you call sustained fever, hovering around 38 C and above for more than 1 week as emergency? my gp called me to ask me go A&E for blood test, in case tio dengue.
over at a&e, doc den say is viral fever, which will last for 14 days. wth....
Usually a GP would have referred you to a specialist or written a referral letter to the hospital which is cheaper than the A&E cost. He could have also sent you for laboratory testing if you had persistent fever for at least 3 days and suspected you of dengue fever. There is a way around waiting for the actual test for dengue confirmation- it is your platelet count and such tests usually can take about half an hour to an hour to process if it is urgent.
You might need to talk to your GP next time if he suspects you of dengue fever or anything else because a simple referral letter stating that he thinks it is an emergency might be able to save you from the charges. That is just my advice.
Originally posted by eagle:room service
like hotel like that, can call to order food that kind of service. After surgery need more food to replenish
4 star hotel of course have room service lah.
but anyway, rgdless of what kind of service, you got the strength or appetite meh? most people just spend their whole post surgery period resting or sleeping.
Originally posted by kangyk:anyway, i felt pitiful for Singaporeans like us to suffer without much social help from the government. henceforth, i would like to make a point to the health ministry to relook at the cost of medicine, treatment. we would like to change the paradigm of that we can die but we cannot fall sick because of the medicine and treatment.
Medical costs will only go up because we can do much more than before and our medical professionals have internationally recognized qualifications and so demand similar level of pay as heir western counterparts. Is it worthwhile to pay $10k a month for as long as a cancer patient lives to increase his survival by 3 months? Singaporeans have to decide for themselves when to stop. Not everyone can afford to pay 50k to increase the survival benefit by 50%? Someone has to pay for healthcare costs. If not the patient, it will fall on the taxpayer.
Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
Someone has to pay for healthcare costs. If not the patient, it will fall on the taxpayer.
this is why singapore is aiming to be a medical hub of asia and middle east... Someone has to pay the bill, why nt let it be rich people from countries with nt so advance medical services in their own backyards.
Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
Medical costs will only go up because we can do much more than before and our medical professionals have internationally recognized qualifications and so demand similar level of pay as heir western counterparts. Is it worthwhile to pay $10k a month for as long as a cancer patient lives to increase his survival by 3 months? Singaporeans have to decide for themselves when to stop. Not everyone can afford to pay 50k to increase the survival benefit by 50%? Someone has to pay for healthcare costs. If not the patient, it will fall on the taxpayer.
Let's see what happens when someone close to you starts having cancer and what not. Then let's see who eats his words first. Are you willing to end the treatment just so you don't have to fork out 10K?
That aside, the problem with our health care is not just that it is expensive, there is a segment of the population who cannot afford to buy insurance with the proper coverage.
Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
Medical costs will only go up because we can do much more than before and our medical professionals have internationally recognized qualifications and so demand similar level of pay as heir western counterparts. Is it worthwhile to pay $10k a month for as long as a cancer patient lives to increase his survival by 3 months? Singaporeans have to decide for themselves when to stop. Not everyone can afford to pay 50k to increase the survival benefit by 50%? Someone has to pay for healthcare costs. If not the patient, it will fall on the taxpayer.
Urm why do you even think there is an advanced medical directive?
I am actually surprised that you claim to be a doctor. Any doctor will tell you quality of life is the primary consideration when it comes to advanced medical intervention. Age is a secondary consideration for obvious reasons.
As with curative treatments, there is a percentage of success. Most doctors will explain the benefits and risk, ....who are you really to tell a person who is probably someone's mother, father, sister, niece,aunt, uncle nephew, daughter, son,brother that the person can't try or hope for a cure when they may have a chance of survival for the next 5-10 years JUST because they cannot afford it.
Originally posted by fymk:Urm why do you even think there is an advanced medical directive?
I am actually surprised that you claim to be a doctor. Any doctor will tell you quality of life is the primary consideration when it comes to advanced medical intervention. Age is a secondary consideration for obvious reasons.
As with curative treatments, there is a percentage of success. Most doctors will explain the benefits and risk, ....who are you really to tell a person who is probably someone's mother, father, sister, niece,aunt, uncle nephew, daughter, son,brother that the person can't try or hope for a cure when they may have a chance of survival for the next 5-10 years JUST because they cannot afford it.
I am surprised that you can claim to be a nurse when you cannot even understand that the AMD is about respecting patient autonomy and nothing to do with heakth economics. Or perhaps the long words are too difficult for you.
There is a price for modern medicine and not everyone can afford it. What is best treatment for the breast cancer patient in Medan may be considered inadequate in New York, but it's the best available given the Indonesian's circumstances. What kind of treatment the Singaporean gets must depend on what she can afford. The government should provide the level of treatment for the poor that society is prepared to pay or able to afford.
Originally posted by Darth_Revan:Let's see what happens when someone close to you starts having cancer and what not. Then let's see who eats his words first. Are you willing to end the treatment just so you don't have to fork out 10K?
That aside, the problem with our health care is not just that it is expensive, there is a segment of the population who cannot afford to buy insurance with the proper coverage.
Each person has to make a personal decision as to what is worthwhile and when to throw in the towel. For those who cannot afford private medical insurance there is Medishield and Medifund. Of course that pays for a basic level of healthcare, a level at which Singaporeans are willing to support through their taxes.
Originally posted by Ahm97sic:High health cost in Singapore has led to many bad consequences.
I was in hospital recently and I witnessed a father who discharged his son for fearing of his inability to pay the medical bill as he has no Medisave.
I have also witnessed a foreign student who is also very worried about the high medical bill and requested for a discharge.
We are C Class patients
2 questions for you.
1) Did the hospital treat his son or was he left to die?
2) How sure are you that Singapore government didnt provide financial aid to the family?
Originally posted by £Ä¬€Ú°:2 questions for you.
1) Did the hospital treat his son or was he left to die?
2) How sure are you that Singapore government didnt provide financial aid to the family?
U wanna try?
Originally posted by Midlusionz:U wanna try?
Sorry, i am not a freeloader like you because I believe that Medifund should be given to people who need it.
Originally posted by £Ä¬€Ú°:
Sorry, i am not a freeloader like you because I believe that Medifund should be given to people who need it.
Hmmm .. Freeloader? I will let others judge this ya. And i hope that u wun land in hospital or fall sick one day .. If u do pls remember wat u reply.
Originally posted by oxford mushroom:I am surprised that you can claim to be a nurse when you cannot even understand that the AMD is about respecting patient autonomy and nothing to do with heakth economics. Or perhaps the long words are too difficult for you.
There is a price for modern medicine and not everyone can afford it. What is best treatment for the breast cancer patient in Medan may be considered inadequate in New York, but it's the best available given the Indonesian's circumstances. What kind of treatment the Singaporean gets must depend on what she can afford. The government should provide the level of treatment for the poor that society is prepared to pay or able to afford.
I am surprised that you claim to be from Oxford.
If it was not about quality of life, they would not be using the statements in the brochure:
" We tend to take many things in life for granted, including life itself.
Often we wait till serious illnesses or accidents strike before we start to think about life and death issues. To die naturally, in peace and with dignity is what many would want in their final moments. While medical advancement may help prolong life artificially, it cannot stop the dying process. Making early choices about our medical care in the event that we have a terminal illness and are unable to make our wishes known will spare our loved ones the difficult decisions that have to be made on our behalf."
AMD is also about giving the patient autonomy . I am not disagreeing with it. Primary reason is quality of life. It will save the doctors from making the decision to prolong the patient's life through unnecessary advanced medical interventions because of secondary factors i.e. angry emotional relatives who will have to foot the bill later.
In an economic rationalistic perspective, unnecessary and inappropriate treatments will tie up limited medical resources when someone with a chance of recovery should have got it . AMD has an indirect link with economics .
You are talking about people tieing up the system for curative treatment and I point out that no one can play God and say that a patient will only survive for 3 months - sh*t happens, so does miracles. Denying a patient life saving treatment in their own country when it is available is unfair ,unless it is their own fault like alcoholics wanting a liver transplant while they are chugging tons of ethanol.
I believe in a system where affordable and reasonable standards of healthcare should be made available for someone who is not a terminal stage patient and have a high probability of surviving the treatment with a reasonable quality of life . If the doctor says that there is a 30% chance, it is still a chance and should be provided to the patient especially when the treatment is readily available in Singapore, albeit the cost. Once we start denying curative treatment to those we deem not worthy or cannot afford the cost , it will be a slippery slope . What's next? Deny treatment to the physically or intellectually disabled because they don't contribute to society economically compared to someone who is not disabled?
If the patient have the money , they can fly out to New York for the latest spanking new medical breakthrough of a treatment on their own money.
Terminal illnesses and high medical cost - left to die ? Morally incorrect but moneywise correct ? Left to die at home or at hospital ? Cheaper to die at home or more expensive to die at hospital ?
Expensive drugs or treatments for terminal illnesses to prolong lives ? Expensive to hospital and the taxpayers but not so to patients' family members ?
In fact, it is more important to ask the patients themselves. How do the patients feel physically and mentally ? To them, it is not a matter of living three more months or three months less. It is how they feel physically and mentally living from day to day. Is the intricating pain, great discomfort bearable ? Is there any way to help to alleviate their physically suffering from day to day that is more important to them. Is there any help to ease them on the path of dying to death ? Is there any help extended to them to live out their remaining days ?
(Currently, the doctors and nurses are there to care for the patients when they are in the hospital BUT when the patients are discharged, they are left in the home without the appropriate help. Many families do not have the knowledge and experience to care for the patients. Yes, there are organisations that will help and these organisations are only a drop in an ocean).
Hi everyone, to share the information for those who need to see a specialist.
Based on my experience, when you are sick and need to see a specialist, you can
(1) see a polyclinic doctor to get a referral letter to see the specialist in a government hospital so that you can receive sudsized medical treatment. You still need to pay cash for outpatient visits and diagnostic tests. You can only use medi-save only if you are being hospitalised BUT BE PREPARED TO WAIT FOR UP TO SEVEN MONTHS BEFORE YOU GET TO SEE THE SPECIALIST.
(2) see a GP to get a referral letter or see a polyclinic doctor to get a referral letter which states the name of a specific specialist BUT you will have to see the specialist as a private patient. You can see the specialist within a week, usually at the next clinical session of the specialist. The oupatient consultation fee will cost between $60 to $150 per visit BUT the blood and diagnostic tests can easily cost $100 to $1500 (eg MRI scans) per visit. The medication cost can easily cost a few hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars if the medication is non-standard drugs.
(3) go to a private hospital to see a specialist in private practice but the cost will be even much higher than seeing a specialist in a government hospital as a private patient.
(4) go to the AE department and if you are being admitted, you will get to see the specialist during your hospitalisation.
(5) see a polyclinic doctor when your conditions have deteriorated until emergency and the polyclinic doctor can write a referral letter to get you direct admission into the hospital.
(6) call the specialist clinic and the appointment centre daily to check whether any patient has called to cancel his or her appointment and if you are very lucky, the staff will call you and you can rush down immediately to see the specialist.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Regards,
ahm97sic