<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Good and bad: A tale of two hospitals
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ON HARI Raya Haji earlier this month, my two-year-old son Ethan had a minor accident and cut his forehead while we were shopping at Bishan Junction 8. We rushed him to Mount Alvernia Hospital's accident and emergency department, which was a five-minute drive from Bishan.
After a 2 �-hour wait, we finally got a chance to consult an attending doctor. After an initial look at Ethan's 2.5cm wound and asking how the accident happened, he asked if we had filed an insurance claim against the shop where it occurred, as most shops have public safety insurance or a similar policy. We said of course not. My husband Dylan told the doctor we had private medical insurance. His first recommendation was that we get a plastic surgeon as his skills would be better than that of a paediatric surgeon, as he would not leave a scar on Ethan's forehead. I was shocked as I did not think the cut warranted such a major procedure.
Before long, we were out of the doctor's room and an administrator advised us that a plastic surgeon would charge a consultation fee of $2,000 to $2,500, and surgery and hospitalisation (should we opt for it) would add a few thousand dollars. Throughout the consultation, Ethan's wound was not cleaned or disinfected until we asked for it to be done.
After a discussion, my husband and I decided to seek a second opinion and we headed to the A&E department at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. After a three-hour wait (it was very crowded), Dr Michaela Seng recommended and performed a short procedure - applying a local anaesthetic gel to numb the affected area before sewing up the cut. This was because Ethan's cut was small and non-jagged and his skin would heal fairly quickly due to his age. Dr Seng and her attending nurse, Mr Ryan Guo, were very professional and reassuring. Hence, half an hour after the procedure, we were on our way home with two bottles of paracetamol and a tube of Tetracycline ointment for post-suture wound care.
I still cannot comprehend why the doctor at Mount Alvernia's A&E department did not attend to Ethan or ask his nurses to disinfect his wound and offer us some effective treatment alternatives. Why did he focus more on the insurance issue, a referral to specialists and expensive and unnecessary treatments? As a doctor, should treatment of patients' conditions not come first?
My husband and I thank Dr Seng and her team of nursing staff at KKH's A&E department for treating Ethan's injury with urgency and patience. They set an excellent example to their counterparts, whose protocols and standards may require review by the authorities.
Lu Minru (Ms)
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ON HARI Raya Haji earlier this month, my two-year-old son Ethan had a minor accident and cut his forehead while we were shopping at Bishan Junction 8. We rushed him to Mount Alvernia Hospital's accident and emergency department, which was a five-minute drive from Bishan.
After a 2 �-hour wait, we finally got a chance to consult an attending doctor. After an initial look at Ethan's 2.5cm wound and asking how the accident happened, he asked if we had filed an insurance claim against the shop where it occurred, as most shops have public safety insurance or a similar policy. We said of course not. My husband Dylan told the doctor we had private medical insurance. His first recommendation was that we get a plastic surgeon as his skills would be better than that of a paediatric surgeon, as he would not leave a scar on Ethan's forehead. I was shocked as I did not think the cut warranted such a major procedure.
Before long, we were out of the doctor's room and an administrator advised us that a plastic surgeon would charge a consultation fee of $2,000 to $2,500, and surgery and hospitalisation (should we opt for it) would add a few thousand dollars. Throughout the consultation, Ethan's wound was not cleaned or disinfected until we asked for it to be done.
After a discussion, my husband and I decided to seek a second opinion and we headed to the A&E department at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. After a three-hour wait (it was very crowded), Dr Michaela Seng recommended and performed a short procedure - applying a local anaesthetic gel to numb the affected area before sewing up the cut. This was because Ethan's cut was small and non-jagged and his skin would heal fairly quickly due to his age. Dr Seng and her attending nurse, Mr Ryan Guo, were very professional and reassuring. Hence, half an hour after the procedure, we were on our way home with two bottles of paracetamol and a tube of Tetracycline ointment for post-suture wound care.
I still cannot comprehend why the doctor at Mount Alvernia's A&E department did not attend to Ethan or ask his nurses to disinfect his wound and offer us some effective treatment alternatives. Why did he focus more on the insurance issue, a referral to specialists and expensive and unnecessary treatments? As a doctor, should treatment of patients' conditions not come first?
My husband and I thank Dr Seng and her team of nursing staff at KKH's A&E department for treating Ethan's injury with urgency and patience. They set an excellent example to their counterparts, whose protocols and standards may require review by the authorities.
Lu Minru (Ms)
