SINGAPORE – Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) says it prioritises patients in emergency cases over the less serious ones, after an inpatient complained on TikTok that he had to buy painkillers via foodpanda after waiting for almost two hours at the hospital for the medicine.
In a Facebook post on Monday, SKH said it was aware of a TikTok video circulating online of a patient ordering Panadol via the food delivery app as a result “of an alleged lack of promptness by the hospital in addressing his needs”.
Addressing the allegation, SKH said it would like to assure the public that the patient’s care team had “rendered the appropriate care” based on his condition.
“SKH is committed to attending to every patient in a timely manner,” it added. “Patients with less acute conditions may sometimes experience longer waiting times compared with those who are being treated for serious urgent and life-threatening emergencies.”
TikTok user Jombadok, in a video posted last week, claims that he waited for his painkillers for almost two hours before he decided to order them via foodpanda. The reason for his hospitalisation is not explained.
“Can you imagine... (I’m) asking for Panadol and I cannot get the medicine from a first-world hospital... it is really ridiculous,” he says in the video.
Filming himself collecting his painkillers from a foodpanda delivery rider at the hospital lobby, he tells the rider, who appears surprised, about his situation. Jombadok does not say how long it took for his delivery to arrive.
He adds that it is his first time warded at SKH and he will be discharging himself from the hospital against medical advice the next day because he is unable to get medication from the hospital.
“No point. I might as well (stay) at home. I have my painkillers at home... (the hospital) is a let-down,” he says in the video.
The Straits Times has reached out to Jombadok and SKH for more information.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...-hospital-says-it-prioritises-emergency-cases
