I had to wait 2 months to get an appointment in KTP Hospital. I now wish to share my experience for this visit as a subsidized patient.
I spent the time as follows:
a) Wait to be registered - 15 minutes
b) Wait for the specialist to be ready - 15 minutes
c) Saw the specialist - 15 minutes. She saw my foot and arranged an appointment for an operation.
d) Wait to make payment - 15 minutes
e) Wait for "financial counselling" for the surgery - 30 minutes
There is something wrong with the workflow. The actual time spent by the doctor was only 15 minutes. The other non-medical work took 75 minutes. I thought that the operation could be carried out today, but it had to be done on another appointment in two weeks time.
I was annoyed with waiting so long for "financial counselling". This was a bad description. Apart from telling me how much the operation would cost, the main purpose was to explain the preparation for the surgery. A better description is "medical counselling".
I received a bill of $75 for this visit. The government provided a subsidy of 50% and the Pioneer Generation card paid 50% of the balance. Still, I had to pay $17.50 and spent time just for the specialist to see my foot and arrange the date of the operation.
I get the impression that "money" was the main focus, rather than the medical treatment. I hope that a future minister for health will increase the focus towards the medical treatment, rather than worry about collecting money.
For non subsidized patients, at the registration counter, they talk money first before you are even given a number to see the doctor.
ReplyDeleteIt has been that cold and sterile since some years back.
Govt boasting the Pioneers are looked after, but they throw obstacles in your path to test your patience.
In times of emergencies, you would be dead after going through the polyclinic way. So go straight to ER at public hospitals, your PG card would be an useless piece of plastic.