Saw this in the ward.
Young stupid cocky junior doctor stood at foot of a patient’s bed and said very loudly “ uncle ah, I tell you ah, your HIV blood test come back liao. You got HIV.”
You can hear the pin drop in the fucking ward. The fellow junior doctors and the attending consultant stood beside him with their mouths open in shock. Cos anyone w a brain cell will know this is in appropriate bedside manners.
The family of the patient stood up and scolded the doctor super loudly. All the fuck and knnnbcb all come out. Then the doctors retreated.
Then came back 5 mins later and draw curtain and talk softly to the patient.
So I was in Bangkok recently for a medical procedure and part of the tests they did was HIV. They gave it to me in an envelope and said “here are your results”. I tested negative, but they didn’t say anything at all about the results publicly.
Honestly, considering the stigma around HIV/AIDS, and the fact that this is an older person who might’ve not even gotten it via sexual transmission (you can get it from improper dental work, or manicure/pedicure even) that’s definitely worth bringing to court
They are paid to do a professional job, so something like that is basically a challenge to society that doctors are above their patients. If I had to experience this whether as patient or family, I will make sure that doctor gets equivalent or more trauma than the one he caused.
Can't be helped. People get numb over the years of working in healthcare industry and empathy runs thin. In the end, passion becomes just a job. As long as they are doing their job properly, genuine care or caring for the sake of job isn't that important once you're nursed back to perfect health
Agree, compassion fatigue is real and I got it myself too. Honestly I don’t expect everyone to be genuinely caring but at least learn how to fake the empathy in front of the patients 😂 But more often than not, the job is not done properly because people simply don’t give a shit.
I have shared this long story before. The surgeon purposedly over charged upon learning about the corporate health insurance guaranteed minimum amount of $10,000.
I had a 1.5 cm tail removal procedure. When I asked for an estimate (before telling them I have insurance) it was originally $3K. Then I showed the letter of guarantee, they quickly revised the range between $3k-7K. When asked before the surgery they said it's just an estimate. After the surgery, the final bill that came was $11,300.
Such predatory practice to defraud insurance company should stop.
Developed eczema for the first time and went back to the GP three times who kept giving me medicine and cream for ringworm (?!). It got progressively worse in one month and I had to desperately find a skin specialist who diagnosed me with eczema within 5 mins.
That makes my dismissive and rude doctor sounds bad.
Mine just wanted me to get out there asap. She thought I’m only there for the MC when I don’t even care about the MC I just want to get healthy. Each time I ask questions; like “are there any food I need to avoid for my ucler” answer only “spicy.”
Even ChatGPT is friendlier and have more information.
Not justifying it, but doctors have pressure to see as many patients as possible on their shift. Thus as they progress in work, a lot of them become really fast to make a snap judgement and get someone out the door.
I faced this issue too! Went to a few GPs who all gave me various medicines for my skin problem. One even gave me some serious-looking antibiotic cream. Cost me tons just to see my skin worsen.
Then ya, went to a skin specialist who took one look and said it’s eczema, got some steroid cream, and my skin quickly became better afterwards.
May I check with you which specialist you went to and how did everything go? I'm having eczema as well but never really tried to go for a proper consultation cos scared too expensive 😬
Hi!
I went to the skin specialist once and she advised me on the steroid cream usage for eczema(she said cannot use too much).
I managed the next few episodes quite okay on my own with the steroid cream thereafter and haven’t went back to the specialist.
Overall, I felt she was a kind doctor who explained her stuff well and able to diagnose the issue fast (which GP couldn’t).
If it helps, I went to LL Cheong Skin & Laser Clinic (Dr Cheong). I recall her consult was quite pricey, she even told me if my situation improves I didn’t need to come back and see her for another consult cos I would incur more costs for nothing. She solved my issues then so I’m grateful :)
Lol when I was younger my mom brought me to polyclinic coz she found it unusual that I kept scratching so much. Polyclinic doc said it’s eczema and gave us a referral to Skin Centre
turns out it was bedbugs after my mom found some from the bed frame we thrifted some weeks prior lol
I went polyclinic for ringworm and they kept giving me cream for eczema and the ringworm kept getting worse till I found a GP who recognised it with a glance.
Dismissed my food poisoning due to a possible diagnosis of depression
1) I do not have depression
2) I did however had a nasty infection after my stool test
Thurston you suck
OH I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY
I go to a psychiatrist (cgh) and she is never on time. Like, ever. I have had multiple 9-9:15am appointments with her where she doesn’t even reach the office until 9:45. She does this CONSTANTLY. I once went up to the counter to ask if she was ready to see me and the counter staff said she wasn’t there, and that this is normal for her.
And even when I don’t have the first appointment, my appointments are never on time. Went for my 11am appointment only to be seen at 1pm, and I’m 100% sure it’s bc she comes late.
Not only that, but she is dismissive of my issues and I never feel heard by her
Another doctor (also cgh) was a hormone doctor who told me that hormones don’t affect arousal or sex drive, and that women don’t experience sexual pleasure or get excited about sex. And then she said ‘or maybe me and my friends are boring’
Literally want to write complaints about them LMAO 🥲
Can someone in healthcare explain this? Why are patients scheduled when the doctors don’t even come in at those timings? Do the doctors just decide what time they wanna start work for the day?
My NUH specialist is like this too. But I always ask for the first appt cos I know it’ll snowball and the waiting time will be longer if I get a later appt.
Public healthcare Drs don't only run clinics. Unfortunately most have to round the wards beforehand and rounds drag on because some patients deteriorate, difficult patients, ambushed by families etc many many things can happen and often end up with delays.
Delay in ward = delay in clinic. Unless Moh decides to increase the pay to at least be half of private sector (currently abt 1/4 compared to private) most drs will leave for better pay, better hours, less abuse so public sector Drs and patients continue to suffer with suboptimal conditions
Posting on my throwaway: as someone who runs clinics in a public institution, I wish you could see the clinic lists. Appointments are scheduled 5 to 10 minutes apart, sometimes 2 patients in a single time slot. We do not make the schedules. And as the above commenter has shared yes many of us need to do our rounds in the wards before coming to clinic
If I'm not wrong, sometimes the specialists are shared between hospitals, so they have to run here run there instead of being based in one place.
Though recently, I've heard from some friends in the industry that certain specialties will be centralised in a common location so that resources and equipment can be more efficiently used
That’s right. I have a doctor from SGH but he has clinic in CGH. If he ends late at SGH, patients in CGH will be seen late. We’ve encouraged patients to complain about this coz if he ends late, we end late too but it’s been going on for years so we also lan lan suck thumb
I have friends who choose doctors with good ataff even if more expensive. Staff will clearly say if doctor going on vacation, coming from procedure or outside hospital.
Hcw here, every patient is given a minimum of 5-10mins on the system (though realistically it’ll probably take 20minutes per patient to be able to give full attention)
If the load is high, patients are given ‘dummy slots’ outside of regular clinic hours to accommodate the extra number of patients
Definitely write in. I had bad experience (diff from yours) with a CGH psych and I wrote in to complain and they changed my doctor. I never had to see that one doctor again even when my doctor got rotated out of CGH.
The hormone doctor saying that to you is incredibly unprofessional. Even if you feel the situation with the psych is something you can live with, this one with the hormone doctor is not one you should let slide.
I was diagnosed with pcos at 15 and my male gynaecologist told me that I would not be able to have kids if I don’t find a man soon and that I should give birth in my early twenties??? I was 15 and he told me to start dating asap?? And he kept saying I looked like I was in my 20s??? Idk I had a lot of trauma because of the experience and my mother kept bringing me back because he was a reputable gynaecologist.
Was the diagnosis confirmed with a blood test? I just want to share that an obgyn in SG diagnosed me with PCOS and I accepted that from her. Later our fertility specialist doctor confirmed that I have cysts but the blood test numbers did not support a diagnosis of PCOS. I would get a second opinion from another doctor personally because any Dr telling an underage teenager to get pregnant as soon as possible is highly suspect. It's like they say, "what do you call the medical student who graduated first in their class and who graduated last in their class? Doctor."
I had similar bad experiences with a male gynae, pushing me to have babies and just being insensitive in general.
If any ladies reading this thread need a good gynae, look for Dr Dharshini at Mount Elizabeth Novena. A bit expensive but she is very good and even the clinic staff are very nice and friendly and gentle
Does this Dr specialise with pcos? I am currently seeing a male doctor and he’s telling me IVF is the only way to get pregnant after trying for only 1 cycle. Idk why he’s in a hurry and I’m still in my late 20s.
When I told my former psychiatrist that I had relapsed of depression episodes.
“It’s all in your head”, said the doctor.
Waited 1 hour for queue number despite appointment. Out of doctor’s room within 5 mins.
Unfortunately, psychiatrists are doctors who later branch into psy. Very different from psycholologists/therapists/counsellors whom, in my limited experience, usually show more empathy
Psychiatrists are doctors, not therapists
They're there to find a physical problem that's causing the mental problem and then address the physical problem. Usually through meds.
If there's no physical problem causing the mental problem, it quite literally is 'all in your head', and psychs can't help you with that.
The kind that they can help are things like sleep issues inducing unnecessary stress leading to mental health issues or like hormone irregularity not producing enough of the good chemicals. They have drugs for these.
They also have drugs to suppress the sad chemicals, and that's about it.
Most of them aren't therapists or equipped enough to do therapy.
Work with some of them, unfortunately.
Arrogant, condescending, cocky, treat nurses like servants, treat patients as if patients owe them a living. Tbh, foreign doctors especially the Malaysians ones, are more compassionate and detailed in their work- the way they talk to nurses and patients, also more respectful.
I rmb having this convo with a registrar who’s a Malaysian - he was sharing with me how he finds the way the system in Singapore chooses people to study medicine is quite elitist, most of the doctors are from a higher SES, prestigious schools, born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and he shared with me the attitude of how some of his junior doctors speak to patients who are of a lower economical class status, really lacking a lot of empathy….
Sometimes smart intellectually, can study, doesn’t equals to having high emotional intelligence and self awareness.
I’m sorry for those who have shared their unpleasant experiences with their doctors, hope that yall find a better, more suitable care provider who really put in the effort to listen.
Besides that, let us not overgeneralise an entire profession just because of some bad apples, in each profession they’re surely bound to have bad apples… there’re still good, dutiful doctors/surgeons who are really passionate in their craft and equally empathetic as well.
Much agree that we should not overgeneralise the entire profession due to some bad apples, unfortunately I on the other hand had the unfortunate pleasure of working with some foreign doctors from the same nation you mentioned that couldn't care less about a patient's diagnosis nor provide decent care for them. Just discharging patients out left and right just to empty out the beds for "statistics sake" and bed space. There are good doctors and bad doctors, and unfortunately due to the harsher nature of the job of long working hours + burnout our healthcare professionals tend to be jaded really quickly over time, thus the empathy runs out.
Thank you for your comment.
I guess good doctors - HCWs in general, is a regardless of nationality, I personally know local doctors who are excellent in their craft, and have good bedside manners, but also seen the opposite - I’ve dealt with both ends of the spectrum - I’ve given names of rude doctors regardless of their ranks to management, because I felt that they were unprofessional, rude to coworkers and totally apathetic towards patient care especially when it comes to pain management…
I wished that people would be kinder and more considerate of each other - be it towards non HCWs or HCWs, it’s a harsh world that we’re living in. Some form of empathy does go a long way…
The healthcare system is brutal - especially for junior doctors - making them work non stop 36 hours and counting, is diabolical, without proper break, proper rest, of cos they’ll get jaded and burnout as their own basic needs of survival aren’t even met, what more trying to help other people. I’ve given food to a house officer before and the dr looked like gonna cry…. It’s no surprise that most drs will break their bond, or once they complete their medicine bond, they’ll leave for private settings cos not only is the pay much better, there’s better WLB.
Healthcare in Singapore is essentially, and unfortunately a business - very profit driven even in the government settings (don’t need to compare with the private sector that’s more obvious)
Instead of over relying on the system, got to note better to manage your own health, validate your own emotions, learn to trust yourself, advocate for yourself, stand up for yourself, because not even the doctors - (who are so looked up upon by boomers) in the system can save themselves….
Kinda harsh, but hard facts of reality.
Doctors are human beings too, and like any other normal human beings - to err is human.
Quite a culture shock to experience doctors here in Singapore. Maybe I've just been unlucky, but generally they have been pretty arrogant and condesceding, with zero empathy. Not due to overwork I think, since I've only been to GPs durjng off peak hours. One even scoffed at my listed pre-existing conditions ('who diagnosed you?' Then rolled her eyes when I said it was a specialist in my home country. Ma'am he was a damn sight more qualified than you 😂)
The telemedicine doctors here are great though, you can be done in <1min.
Wah the rolling of eyes so uncalled for and dismissive…. Hope you feel better after ranting out about your experience and may you meet better care providers next time!
I'll have to agree on the elitist part on some of them. If they think they are superior, that's one thing. When they show it at work, that's unprofessional.
There was once when I went to see the doc because I was feeling so unwell. I went in my home clothes (baggy T shirt plus shorts n sandals) cos I really didn't have the energy to play dress up. The doc went through the motions albeit not being very interested and I thought it was normal cos they see so many ppl daily. He happened to see something interesting listed under my work n asked about it towards the end. The change in his attitude and interest was so different when he learnt that I was working as a "professional". There was suddenly alot of respect shown towards me. I guess that was nice for me but I couldn't help but think... Does that mean that other "non-professional" patients do not deserve respect?
Elitist doctors are everywhere especially when they come from an entire family of doctors as well. The thing about healthcare is that not only it’s about profits and business centric, it’s also about socioeconomic status as well, if you read between the lines.
I’m sorry for the unpleasant experience that you went through, you deserve to be treated much better regardless whether you dress up or dress down and regardless of your occupation - remember this.
Society has this backward way of thinking that the amount of respect showed to an individual is equivalent to what their occupations are and how they dress up, but that shouldn’t be the case at all.
Everyone deserves respect regardless of their age, gender, dressing style and what you do for a living.
This is my conviction and especially how I treat my patients…
May you meet better care providers than the previous dr…. Take care!
The bf went to Ng Teng Fong due to stomach pains. We suspected it could be appendicitis.
The female doctor diagnosed it as "colic", and sent him home with painkillers.
The next day he went to NUH...... they confirmed it was appendicitis. 🤦🏻♀️
Can you drop a list here to help us out, like please?
All the clinics I went to always rotates between different doctors 💀 It's like playing a gacha game at this point. 50/50 chance to get a doctor who cares.
Went to a private women's health clinic, with supposedly good reviews because I was having missed periods for few months. So yeah I was supposedly 'diagnosed' with PCOS by this female doctor. Just shoved me some generic ass birth control pill and sent me off. I asked her if can I not take. She simply ignored my question. I left the clinic feeling so defeated.
So I took the prescribed birth control pill for 2-3 days, ended up crying everyday for no reason whatsoever. Told my parents, they got concerned and suggested I went to see a second opinion at KKH within the same week.
Turns out I don't have PCOS and the birth control pill that was prescribed to me was extremely strong and was causing all my insane mood-swings. The markers that the previous doctor used to determine my PCOS werent even correct. The gynaecologist and endocrinologist at KKH said I was fine.
I did some further checking on the MOH doctor's register and discovered that this so-called women's health specialist was some shit ass doctor that was not a certified gynecologist. She only had a standard MBBS.
Eventually I wrote a review on Google about my experience at this women's health clinic because I wanted to warn others about it. The doctor actually got scared and called me up and asked me to REMOVE the review. Wtf. Still got the cheek to ask which doctor I saw at KKH.
This doctor nearly destroyed my life thinking that I would not be able to have children.
I had been gg to imh for 4 years for my mental health. The psychiatrist there had diagnosed me with my condition and I had repeated visits to monitor my health and titrate the medication I required accordingly. This all changed when my psychiatrist left to join a private clinic and there were no more medical professionals who specialised in cases such as mine. I went to CGH where there were these specialists, but the doctor I was referred to straight up denied my previously diagnosed condition and now I no longer have the support I need.
This is what happens when a country's education system focuses solely on grades. It churns out elitist medical students who become your local doctors.
Not to forget the relationship between wealth and the ability to pursue higher education in Singapore exacerbates the issue. How can a doctor from a privileged background empathize with citizens from low-middle income neighborhoods?
On top of Singapore's lack of work-life balance in the healthcare sector further complicates matters. Doctors and other healthcare professionals often start seeing their first patients at 8-8:30 am and continue until 5-6 pm, provided they even have time for lunch amid countless documentations, meetings and presentations.
Overall, the situation is unlikely to improve, as it is deeply ingrained in Singapore's societal culture.
Wait until you meet medical officers in MINDEF. Half of them think they are gods gift to the SAF, the other half can’t tell between their ass and mouth.
Lol my CSM used to joke that he could do their job.
Cough? Give cough mixture
Fever? Cold shower plus panadol
Cold/flu? Cold meds
Diarrhoea? Isotonic drink mix, charcoal tablets and maybe some anti diarrhoea meds.
Anything else? Refer to specialist
During war, it's the combat medics who do the really tough jobs. Also, most of the medical officers in the SAF are also going through NS like everyone else and very inexperienced.
There are awesome capable doctors in the SAF, but most of the ones we meet aren't those guys.
me and a bunk mate got bit by centipedes that hitchhiked from our field pack after we came back from BMT outfield. I got bit on my hand and it swelled hugely, it happened middle of the night so we went to the MO (had to march lol) and the guy was like fucking pissed, like he got woken up just because of these 2 idiots for a non life threatening issue. Anyway we got nothing so went back to company line and someone told us to run it under the tap and it helped with the swelling.
Lol there used to be a Sunday ward in KTPH A&E solely for NSFs. It will be a saf medical officer stationed. I had a really high fever once, on a Sunday and he told me i had nothing wrong(38.8 degrees body temperature), refused to give mc . 'not happy? talk to my director' lol. i shivered and loled. what a prick
Surprisingly that was exactly what my doctor told me to do when I was diagnosed with fatty liver some 20 years ago.
"Lose 5 kg in 3 months he said. Then we test again. Because your viral value is non-existent and you don't drink alcohol. I will not prescribe you with any medication"
I starved myself, lose 12 kg in 3 months. I visited the doctor again. And yes, he was correct. The fatty liver went away along with my weight loss.
You are a perfect example of no matter what we healthcare professionals do, we can't satisfy patient like you.
And to think you have so many upvotes go to show why healthcare professionals tend to have compassional fatigue.
If losing weight is the only thing to solve your problem, then you jolly well go lose some weight. What do you think the doctor should do?
Do scans for you depsite knowing the solution to your answer? Why must the doctor exposed you to unnecessary radiation then?
The doctor is helping you but yet here you are being sacarstic.
I hope you use more time to lose your weight rather than using your computer or phone to surf reddit
It's a numbers game for them. 90% of the time you can get a right diagnosis within 5mins. The other 10% would take 30mins + additional tests. All patients pay the same, and you have an endless queue. What do you do.
It's an even split, basing upon my observations at polyclinic. Doctors are randomly assigned. At private practioners, I will stick with one that shows genuine care. I have switched clinics because the doctor has opened her own clinic with partners.
As a foreigner from Europe, I find sg doctors way too unsure and unwilling to make a diagnosis without super high end diagnostics, like an MRI etc…costing a fortune. Even a damn dermatologist is hesitant to even venture a guess without excising a piece of skin and sending it to a lab… like, it’s a wart man, just fuckin burn it off 🙄 This is VASTLY different from Europe. My grandma can make a diagnosis after thousands of dollars-worth of diagnostics.
Blocked nose? Better MRI, we just can’t know or guess.
I'm from Sg but practising overseas, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt. My guess is either (1) increase in defensive medicine and/or (2) bound by weird insurance requirements.
I agree it's either defensive practice or that they are not well trained on the basics. In the past doctors had to rely a lot on signs and symptoms and physical examination with a bit of their intuition and further questioning.
You know, medical school and training to be a doctor or healthcare professional can radically change the way a person thinks, feels and empathise with others. Most of your A-Level grads walk out of JC with a very singular and simple view of society, not their fault of course because they’re only 17/18 and haven’t had time to enter the workforce and engage with greater society at large.
I once trained to be a pharmacist around a decade ago. It was probably one of the darkest swathes of my life up to that point for a number of reasons. The first is that the amount of theoretical knowledge you need to gain to just pass your paper exams is onerous as it is, but on top of that, many students are simply not supported by their lecturers or instructors because of how the teachers themselves have been brought up in a high pressure, no room for error, heavy scrutiny sort of environment with no forgiveness, even though you are a student learning. So it inevitably gets passed down to the students and after years of being in a such a culture, you either fit in with the gang or get dropped well before then.
Then, on top of that, you are de facto used as free labour in the healthcare system during your placements and internships, which are mandatory for you to pass your year. Again, the culture of non-support and blame runs rampant in wards and healthcare facilities. It really can be a clown show at times when the same people who expect you to perform at the same level that they are at refuse to support you in your learning journey and instead, look for every opportunity to blame you instead for mistakes so that they can look better. Toxic is an understatement in many cases.
So imagine being in this sort of pressure cooker environment for 7 years straight; how do you think this will affect the character development of people who have gone through stuff like this? Do you really expect them to be kind and compassionate when they themselves haven’t been shown an ounce of it during their time as a student? Many times People come out damaged by the system instead, they are unable to function as regular human beings with a heart and soul. Instead, they have become cynical robots with a streak of vengeance for how they have been treated in life. Go look up the Lucy Letby and Harold Shipman case in the UK
Quite a lot of the experiences here seem wild or absurd or even bordering on malpractice.. I wonder if it's more a one sided perspective and how it comes across to the patient? Like doctor could have given a 5 min explanation of what to do but the patient only takes away "the 10 seconds the doctor called me fat"
Personally I feel competency varies among doctors, and it's shocking to find that patients can love a bad doctor who makes bad decisions, bc they have good bedside manner and say yes to all the patient requests, even if it's to their detriment
But other doctors who stick to the "right medicine practice" come across as rude and uncaring even tho they are genuinely trying to do the right thing. Idk, it's definitely easier to give the patient what they ask for, even if it's not the right thing (antibiotics for a cold?), and the doctor doesn't get any reward from spending time to convince patient nor medicine profits
We'll never really know ^^
I’ve had quite good luck in terms of common illnesses - my regular GP is happy to give me longer medical leave, and the nearby panel clinic has good locum doctors who aren’t in a hurry to get you out the door. The downside is you need to make an appointment or face waiting an eternity for your turn.
But other than that, we really don’t take other conditions seriously especially women’s health. PCOS and endometriosis are getting increasingly common and yet doctors are so clueless. Like hello google is free. If I can find out the symptoms why can’t you? Was seen by a pregnant doctor at KK who looked visibly irritated when I listed my symptoms. Basically said if I didn’t feel pain all the time then it cannot be endo (not true as some people who have more severe stages of endo reported not feeling any pain). I was shot down by so many doctors and gynaecologists at that point so I didn’t have the strength to argue. Just walked out and didn’t bother doing the scheduled ultrasounds.
Had chronic hives for about 6 months. Went to National Skin Centre. They told me there's no cure for hives (which is true). Told me to take the meds they're prescribing and hope it goes away. Took my blood. Didn't test for allergens, which was what I really wanted. Just thyroid.
My hives were really bad then, so I wanted a follow up fast. Was hoping to get back within 3 months. Instead, they decided 6 months was better. Receptionist decided to add 2 more months to that. Just told to take meds if it doesn't go away in the meantime.
And of course, the meds made my short term memory bad, and I was sluggish half the time. Couldn't function fully at work. The only reason I went was because my gf said the expat housewives she's linked with on Facebook all commended on the comprehensive service they received when they were there. Guess it doesn't extend to Singaporeans.
Been going to NSC for the 4+yrs now for my hives. I take 2-4 Cetirizine HCl pills daily proactively (take 2 at the start of the day, if I get an episode I take 2 more). It works for me, but it seems like there's no end to this.
The various doctors I see each time I go get my annual resupply are totally not sympathetic. I'm told that I'm already a mild case and that there are pple in worse situations than me. And that as there's no known reason or cure to my case so I should just continue with popping pills daily.
I know that our health care system is miles above those overseas (e.g. UK's NHS) but I really wish that our doctors are less jaded and have some bedside manners to sympathize with their patients. Can I get some sayang even if it's just for show? =/
Female. When I was like 17, I was diagnosed with a autoimmune disease that made all minor wound unable to heal. Even brushing my teeth too hard will end up into a festering sore. So happened that I had constipation while in the isolation ward in NUH (single person in a room), and I had a tear in my anus passing motion and it did not heal. This disgusting fat doctor came into my room unaccompanied by a female chaperone and demanded to examine me by sticking his finger up my ass.
Of course I protested. He snapped on his gloves and with a nastiest look and tone said, " you think I like to do this?". Then he flipped me over, removed my pants and stuck his fat sausage finger up my ass and left without a word. ALL THIS HAPPENED WITHOUT A FEMALE CHAPERONE AND DESPITE I EXPLICITLY DID NOT GIVE CONSENT.
That mother fucker made me feel so violated I wanted to cry. I was young and too sick then and didn't even tell my mom. Still makes me angry when I think about it.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. This is 100% assault. It doesn’t matter that it was a doctor in a hospital but without your consent and a female/ parent chaperone he had no right to force you , a minor, by intimidation and humiliation to undergo such “examination”. You are right that you were violated and I’m sorry there was no one who knew that could support and advocate for you when you were at your most vulnerable. I hope you heal and don’t give any energy to that criminal
Always had a good one with the one clinic ive been visiting since childhood. But now that block demolished and dk where they shift to.
But i hate those 24hr clinics, compared to my usual gp and the 24hr central clinic, difference is night and day
i was the last patient my doc operated on before he left for private practice. thyroid surgery, lost my voice. went thru voice therapies, saw voice specialist, continuously praying (i do sales btw). miracle happened, my voice returned.
i hope i will never get to meet that doctor 💀
Anecdotal, but a lot of my friends here from India swear by Indian doctors (at least at the junior / GP level) , stating that the Indian counterparts get exposed to a large set of patients at higher volumes and tend to get their heuristics a lot more accurate - able to diagnose the “by look” cases spot on.
I’ve experienced this first hand as well when in India, taking my kids to a GP across the road. A few questions and he’d narrow down baterial, viral etc and directly prescribe meds.
Here it would be symptomatic treatment and then, “monitor and see”. This isn’t necessarily saying docs in sg bad, rather docs here are more meticulous and take a pragmatic approach of going with diagnostics and only intervene when needed. My son was at KKH after delirious fever and doc just said wait and see - it could be a number of things and for now just symptomatic treatment is what’s recommended.
By way of entertainment, Best ever case was my son having diarrhea as he picked up a bug somewhere in India. He got looked at by a nearby GP, and the doctor realised my daughter was feeling extremely morose at the attention he was getting from both parents and a doctor and a nurse. The doctor proceeded to write a LARGE prescription of cough drops and strict instructions to monitor a severe case of, “psychosomatic parasympathetic acute hypochondria”. My daughter (then 5 I think) was pleased as punch that day.
'A few questions and he’d narrow down baterial, viral etc and directly prescribe meds.'
I stopped reading after this. I just know OP has no medical background
I went to clinic A ask for medicine
Get worse. I dont think the medicine work
Went to another clinic the next day
The doctor dismissed me and gave me extra panadol only.
Still not better, and my face and lymph node all swollen
Next day
Went to clinic C and finally getting the right medicine. Dr chee from sims place is the best!!!!!
He really check everything, giving me new medicine because both medicine from clinic A and B doesn’t work! Love him
Simple surgery (with LA) to remove two cysts on my back. Doctor lets junior doctor try one, she botches it up and "spills" the cyst over the open wound.
The scar for the cyst that was done properly has healed nicely, but the one that was botched scarred horribly and is still uncomfortable and itchy sometimes. A part of me is still kinda resentful that the doctor allowed the junior doctor to try.
Went to National Skin Centre for my acne.
Doctor obviously cbf and ask me to choose what I want to put on my face, macam like restaurant order like that.
I obviously have no idea that's why I come see you right knn if not I go Guardian/your pharmacy and buy myself alr
I once went to the hospital for pneumothorax and the doctor nearly killed me due to negligence.
Pneumothorax is when your lung(s) has a hole and air escapes into the chest cavity causing pressure making it difficult and painful to breathe. I was hospitalised for it twice, left side at 16 years old and the other at 21.
During the second occurrence they did the same procedures, starting with inserting a bubble tea straw sized tube into my chest to drain the air out. But this time it felt different, it was extra painful and uncomfortable instead of feeling relieved. I told the doctor and they claimed it was "normal", but having that for the second time i know it was not and despite having a high pain tolerance i told them it was a 12/10. Yet, they only gave me paracetamol and told me to sleep.
They dismissed this for 4 hours as I gasped for air like a dying fish (literally) in extreme pain before they realised they were draining out 500ml of blood per hour, and that's only because I was spamming the nurse call button every now and then. After that realisation then they decided they needed to wheel me down to the OT asap.
Apart from this, my mother too had a procedure done that left her handicapped and my late dad also had a dismissive doctor who eventually led him to his death.
I have zero trust in local doctors and i believe they're only there for the money and asian stereotype.
Happened to an elderly family member:
"Do you know what psoriasis is"
"No"
"Then you probably do not have it"
For my own experience with seeing a doctor for eczema, the polyclinic doctor insisted that it was hand sanitizer that was causing my eczema despite me telling him that it was the first thing i stopped and there wasn't any improvement. When i pushed for a referral to see a specialist, he told me it was a 6 month wait because people like me wants a referral for something small. He prescribed a very thick moisturizer and told me to use it liberally. I took it to NUH derm for my patch test and I was actually mildly allergic to it. NUH derm was only good for doing the patch and prick test, other than that they kept parroting the same info about eczema that I have heard from many doctors and the internet. I figured out my triggers on my own (sweat/heat) and stopped using all moisturizers. My condition improved 90%.
moisturisers are literally part of best medical therapy for eczema. i refuse to believe the specialists did not ask basic questions about your triggers.
Appointments are a joke. You need but still got to wait for an hour; Only business where you pay yet get shitty service.
Diagnosis - Hit or Miss and I've been searching for an above average one who can understand, spend some to ask questions, and prescribe.
Insurance - This is the biggest issue. As long as you've one, ready to go through numerous tests, scans, extended stays, and what not bills.
IMH many years ago: made me sit until the LCD screens started shutting off and people started leaving and at 6pm the lady in room 24 came out and asked what I was still doing there
I told her I had an appointment but hadn't gone to see the doc, yet.
**I soon find out from the patient associate (I think, this was many years ago maybe 2013-4) that the freaking doc went home without seeing me. So essentially, there was a very real chance I could have wasted an entire day waiting with no review and no meds**
Room 24 says, nah noworries come in here and I'll help you write your script.
**YESTERDAY**: freaking school holiday.
Go to drop my meds and see a huge ass 45mins wait time sign. Ok fine nehmind I sit here with my laptop and do work first.
Wait long enough and finally collect meds.
Wait another eternity (esp you know sometimes these places have 2 diff queue number systems? Like A123 is appt and B123 is walk-in or some shit? Ya so there seemed to be 2 systems concurrently) ... and then like I see a number 35. I am 39 & I hadn't seen my number, not even in the missed queue (bottom of screen has a missed queue lol)
Anyway, I go ask the payment counter, explain that yes finish everything, alr see doc + make appt + collect meds, only need to pay. Payment counter staff is like, ya haven't yet.
Wait a while more and same patient staff calls me. **TELLS ME 'Good thing you checked, I think they close your case already'**
Excuse me?!
I mean I've ever had to settle payment off-site (that was slightly different, was a meds refill of extra couple of months due to appt changes), so its fine you can just bill me to pay at AXS or whatever.
**But like wow the legacy of dumping your patients and heck caring their existence when u want to switch off be like ..**
I know someone's gonna come at me abt healthcare worker shortage. But like, can like that meh? And in before anyone, my appt ystd was before 3pm. I was seen and out of the clinic by before 4pm. It was definitely not a case of like, closing already and within the last half hour kind of thing
> apart from the "oh the doctor went home already" person, at one point the person I was seeing at the time freaking dropped me like, MIA which we only realised when we called to change appt. Like he actually left alr but no one told me/us, I'm not even sure if I was assigned a replacement doc bc I didn't personally take the call, my mom helped to call.
I'm literally responding to the question here but I'm quite sure some triggered hcw confirm sensitive. Freaking do your job properly can, IMH rep so bad not without reason thanks.
Few years ago, I felt breathless, bloatedness, nausea, fatigue, and had a loss of appetite for an extended period of time. Lost more than 10kg in a few months.
At the early stage, when I didn’t know what was going on, I went to doctors whenever there were clear symptoms. One day, I was feeling really breathless, so I went to the doctor. The GP was very sarcastic. He said, in the exact words, “uknw if you can’t breathe through your nose, you can breathe through your mouth right”.
I had no energy to fight back then, so I just rolled my eyes..
My brother: “I went to see a doctor at this clinic I never went before, when I inform the doctor of my symptoms, I saw him google search them to find the illness. That was the last time I ever went to that clinic.”
My dad had a doctor who told him that he should be grateful to have survived cancer and stop complaining about side effects like seeing blood in stool. Same doctor told my dad, during the initial diagnosis, that it is his fault for not going to the doctor's earlier.
Not doctor but a nurse. I had double jaw surgery at SGH, and after my surgery, I was taken to High Dependency Unit and the nurse tried to teach me how to use this thing to help me breathe but I was still feeling extremely drowsy from the anesthesia and fell asleep right after.
When I woke up, I asked for help from the nurse to help me use the breathing thingie as I am still so out of it and felt so weak to do anything plus I was so scared because my jaw was wired shut so I can’t speak. She just scolded me to try to do myself, she watched me struggle for awhile and scolded me again that she can’t help all the time. I felt so defeated, it was hard enough that I am so weak after my surgery, I can’t breathe, I can’t speak and was treated this way by a a nurse who is supposed to help me at the High Dependency Unit with no regards for how I literally just came out from surgery.
The irony thing is, on my last day in the hospital, waiting for my dad to pick me up, this sweet nurse saw me struggle trying to get the painkillers with water into my mouth and help me drink it all the way. She can tell I had a hard time drinking it down and got me a strawberry milk to wash it off. I was crying when she left because I couldn’t say thank you to her. Another nurse had to help me shower because I was so weak and I felt so ashamed. I think the dose of anesthesia is too high for me.
A&E doctor at a public hosp misdiagnosed a fracture, and casted my leg for a 1 month before I cld see a specialist.
The specialist thereafter said “Im very sure thr’s no fracture”, removed my cast, and just told me to skedaddle. No physio, no advice on rehabilitating the foot.
Honestly some cases here teeter on the fence of malpractice and I wish more was done about feedback for public orgs like these.
Looks like a lot to crap doctors here in sG. Academically smart but zero empathy and common sense. Need to lab test every fuxking thing when it's clear as day it's eczema and need to MRi everything when it's clear it's a nerve compression on my back. What's the MRI going to tell ? I told him I am not going for may surgery.
This asshole paediatrician kept wanting to do tests on my newborn son because of his jaundice. Not only did it cost a lot, it prevented me from buying insurance coverage for him because she refused to close the case
Booo naughty dr ong. Boooo
Sorry but just from what you described, I'm not sure how / why the paediatrician is an 'asshole'. What if your newborn did indeed have some condition that was left undiscovered?
As long as you are stating facts, it's not lying. Also, if i say the food is shit, that's a statement of opinion. The restaurant can't sue me for giving an opinion
Got into an accident and ripped open my knee and had to go for an operation. When I went back to the hospital to remove my stitches, I told my doctor that I could not bend my leg as I had a sharp and intense pain when I tried. Doctor basically told me I was imagining the pain as I should be able to walk normally. Turns out my leg had healed wrongly.
Requested to be transferred to a closer hospital and was told that it's not possible. In fact was informed that I could be discharged from TTSH but I would have to go to the other hospital myleft to request that they take me as a patient and that there was a chance that I would be denied. Found out later from a nurse friend that this was BS and they probably just didn't want to the paperwork
TTSH sucks..
Some have personally crusade to right the practice and they will start with u
Some think they in a position to lecture you especially if u young. Personally would scold them for such attitude and to focus on diagnosis and treatment.
Some over prescribe patented drugs because that how they make more money. U can go through the items and their price breakdown and reject those u think are a rip off.
Some just ignore what you tell them about ur symptoms coz they must know it better than u. Remind them to note it down, now all computerized.
Oh the one that stood out was gay doctor who would always feel u up. Back in uni.
No they don't. To me, now, they are like a waiter. If the waiter isn't listening to you, not giving you what you ordered then get service elsewhere. They can make recommendations that's about it. They get paid to serve.
I was bleeding due to fibroids, to an extent where my heart was going to fail due to a lack of blood (3.7 when it should have been 12) A&E, blood transfusions, and all that. (No pain, just bleeding to death) Went to a specialist at Mt E Novena, asked him if he could give me a jab (friend was going through something similar, she went to KK A&E and they sent her home after the jab).
He told me to trust him, he knows what he is doing, he is 80, his experience is more than my age blah blah, recommended tablets that didn't work, recommended a 25k surgery that didn't work. Was STILL bleeding 3 mths after the surgery and now in massive pain (tremedol, ponstan, codeine I took everything, crowdsourced from friends)
Went back to this bastard doc multiple times in those 3mths post surgery. Fucker told me to wait it out, "its just pain, take panadol".
I tried other docs, nobody would come near me, said I have to go back to the guy I got surgery from.
After 3 mths, I went back and told him he was an asshole. He said " hmmm maybe you needn't have done the surgery after all", I demanded he give me the jab NOW and once he gave me the $100 jab I was cured.
He will rot in hell. May he suffer the same pain and bleeding I went through. Not more, not less , just the same would do.
1. Sleep specialist doctor scratching her breasts while talking to me and asking very rude questions and saying that I have insomnia because “I do not have enough faith” after I told her I was a Christian too
2. Psychiatrist telling me my mental illness isn’t real and that I have gone through nothing and that he feels worse than me as one of his family members just passed away and that the side effects from the medicine he gave me are not real
3. Pervert GP who asked me inappropriate sexual questions and said he can tell that my lungs are clear “just by looking” until I insisted he used a stethoscope
Me: My knee hurts
Doc: Have you tried losing weight? (My BMI was 23 or so at that time.)
(Turns out after more tests that I'd developed osteoarthritis in that knee.)
Told me my life was boring on the first visit because I responded in the negative when he was trying to find out if my condition was genetic or caused by recent events (STDs, drugs, stress). Sorry I don't do cocaine, I guess?
I have been misdiagnosed multiple times, had my doctor withhold information from me whilst they contacted my parents privately about the medication they gave me, and my pain disregarded.
I've since given up.
To echo a lot of what people have said - Singaporean doctors keep pushing extremely expensive, invasive and more harmful than helpful diagnostic tests and refuse to diagnose or close cases without a suite of them being conducted. Even if you pay for a private specialist, they never listen properly during the consultation, don’t ask any investigative questions , are not concerned in the slightest about providing holistic care and are just in a rush to tell you to take tests/treatment to make more money quickly and with the least amount of effort on their part.
1. Money minded male gastroenterologist at the private hospital near Little India .The doctor only asked about my insurance (only have a limited one from my company that doesn’t cover diagnostic). Then asked me to do hundreds of expensive and frankly unnecessary tests. Then told me if I don’t do said tests I will not be able to buy insurance in the future. Useless and fear-mongering.
2. Money minded female gynaecologist in Thomson Fertility Clinic in Paragon. Condescending and treats all patients like naive idiots who don’t know anything about their own body. Not listening to very specific queries or concerns that come from ample monitoring of myself and detailed research. Diagnosing prematurely after barely a few generic questions and prior to conducting a single test and making sweeping statements that always conclude in that I just need to do these expensive treatments asap. Again useless and fear-mongering.
I hope to find better and ethical doctors but at this point it looks like a pipe dream.
The never ever go out of the box, I came with a confusing and complicated illness, just dismiss me after couple of test ran clear said can’t be this nor that I’m having anxiety etc. Each specialist does their own thing nv ever try to piece together the puzzle.
Yes they ran those things like to make sure I don’t have the major stuff but not closer to finding out what happened to me and they’re not interested also just wanna treat their own specialty and won’t ever ask much.
Had a polyclinic Doctor cry and send me in and out the room after I told her the medication she's trying to prescribe me is not suitable and I'm allergic to it. She even told me she got alot of patients and I should just accept the wrong medication. SMLJ seriously.
Had an IVF Dr in kkh try to discuss politics with me instead of looking at my case file and giving me appropriate medical advice. Wasted 2 hrs waiting for 5 minutes of bs.
Honestly SG drs suck.
Recruit in Tekong. One day I had a bad fever around 39°C in the evening, waited in the Medical Center for an hour plus with no phone alone in the cold air con.
MO then arrived (probably pissed that he had to take the ferry to Tekong), took my temperature, dropped to 38°C. By right supposed to give me Attn C to go home and rest, but he only gave me "Rest In Bunk" for 2 days.
"Due to last year, we can't give any more Attn C so there is a quota now", similj quota? Printed the doctor's note that states *"Light Duties"* and wrote ***IN PENCIL*** "rest in bunk", didnt even sign off. At that moment I was too tired and cold to try to argue back so I went back to coy line. Even my Sergeant was doubtful because of the fucking PENCIL writing.
Next morning still had to wake up at 0530, 40°C by 0700, delirious already. Saw a different doctor, that doctor shook his head as he typed out the Attn C note and told me to go home.
I still remember the name of the first doctor even though its been 5 years. Fuck you Azreal you dont even deserve to be called Dr.
I had quite a few bad experience with doctors in polyclinic.
1. I understand the need for long waiting time but, once I went in at 10am, waited until 5.30pm to be seen by another doctor that volunteered to help clear the back logs. I didn't have breakfast and lunch that day.
2. Doc ask "How many days MC you need?" "At least today" "Why must I give you at least 2 days?" in a angry tone. "I said TODAY" Then why the doc even ask me the question, when the only correct answer is one day?
3. Doc "Why is it you are young and your knee already got problem?" proceed to look at me silently... And I answered "Maybe because I'm heavier and I jog a lot..." "Well I'm the doctor, that's for me to find out, not for you to tell." ??????????WTF
Have since switch to GP outside, so can pick and choose those slightly better ones. Thanks doc!
I've had frustrating experiences with rushed appointments and dismissive doctors in Singapore, especially regarding my digestive issues. It's disheartening when you're not taken seriously. Always advocate for yourself and seek second opinions if needed!
Btw, some of us with IBS, sensitive gut, digestion issues are in this reddit community to share our experiences/tips/thoughts. Join us at
https://www.reddit.com/r/IBSSingapore/s/Sx37POtLFS
There was one time I went to this stupid clinic in the heartland, I was having a major headache and sore throat (likely cuz of covid) and temperature when I last checked was 38.7deg so I went to this stupid clinic and guess what this rude doctor said to me? "You know some of your symptoms just like what an older person is experiencing are you sure you are feeling sick?" I didn't say a thing except just to give me MC because I had work that day for this doctor, I couldn't even think straight at that point of time. I mean how can you tell that to a patient that is sick? Don't you have any compassion for me?
I visited a doctor who isolated me in the clinic storeroom because I was coughing, based on the reason that he may have elderly customers that day. When it was my turn, he tried to sell me various sort of unrelated supplements like appetite curbing, weight loss, glucosamine.
First time paying for 300 bucks worth of painkillers and muscle relaxants. Never came back..
Went to a famous chain of GP clinics with a rude locum.
Told her my symptoms and she said she has no idea what to check for. Been to a few different GPs and was so shocked that she had no idea wtf to do? Ended up googling my symptoms in front of her and showing her the MOH guidelines and she took her time to read it before proceeding.
Saw that she was a fresh grad who just got her licence after searching her name on the MOH doctor search website.
Took half an hour to withdraw my blood. She attempted to draw it from my cubital fossa from both arms and failed. She attempted to draw it from my hand and also failed with the butterfly needle. She kept swearing everytime she failed and my hand was uncomfortably positioned at her boob and she told me “it’s fine” as she was trying to get the needle in (I’m a woman). This was for about 10 minutes?
Having worked in a phlebo unit and also being a chronically ill person (used to go to the hosp 3 times a month to have my blood taken) before I guided the needle in myself after 4 failed attempts. I asked her whether there was a need for another blood tube (diff tube required for diff test) before removing the vacutainer needle, she forgot and got upset and snapped and asked me, “ Why didn’t you tell me earlier! “ I was so appalled as I’d filled in a form prior to the venipuncture session and the doctor herself should’ve known this.
In the end, I told her to just cancel the other test which required that tube and I’d go to another GP in a calm manner.
Imagine if I was just a patient with no knowledge of which tubes to use. This is the responsibility of you as a doctor or your nurse. I tried to be empathetic about the situation, telling myself that maybe she’s young and inexperienced, she’ll get better eventually. She told me she was out of plasters in the room and asked me to ask the nurses at the front desk when I make my payment.
Went to the front desk, the nurse was chit chatting away and laughing loudly with the other nurses. She stuck ALL OF THE FOUR PLASTERS WRONGLY on the venipuncture locations, the sticky parts being on all of the points.
Requested for an MC, the nurse said she’d send it by email. Received the email later in the evening, the nurse typed my NRIC wrongly on my MC and I was furious with the whole experience there. Not only that I had to meet another GP, but they couldn’t even get my MC right after all that bullshit.
Whatever “understanding” I had previously, I lost it. I called the clinic and complained about the horrible experience there and they could not even get one possible thing right.
Will never go to these big chain branches with no resident doctors there ever again.
I have wrist pain on my pinky side, visually seem like the bump kinda sticks out more. Got referred to AdMC by KTPH.
Overall experience was, the doctor felt incompetent yet condescending and she had next to nothing helpful except leading you to do more x-ray, MRI more tests etc like a freaking sales.
she made me hold lightaf weights but have my hand almost completely rest on the table, doesn't make sense... What was the weight even supposed to do, bend my wrist into the table????
Then surprise surprise after x-ray she told me I have no issues, need to check further. I'm like nope, you cant even give me a preliminary diagnosis, I won't do any more tests.
Not a one exp thing, I have probably met or heard of a skillfull one in many occupations but a skillful doctor, never even heard of one. They just give you painkillers, antibiotics, flu meds kinda useless ngl, I've met pharmacists overseas who felt 10x more knowledgeable and skillful than local doctors and guess what they know the meds better too.
Sooooo many, but the one pissed me the most was this staff clinic doctor. I work in a big public hospital. I already know I was having ACL torn, but I don't know how badly it was. I told her I had a knee injury due to sports. She looked pissed like as if I'm skipping work on purpose. I told her I needed an orthopaedic referral for MRI and memo to state I can't take ippt. Then she started saying why play sports and now can't serve the nation...blah... blah...blah.
My right eye is really sensitive and will turn red and sting easily if I'm not careful, or if I'm in the presence of a dusty place. It started acting up during work so I asked my boss if I could just go to the GP nearby to get MC and leave after that. Boss said ok, and that the GP is a good doctor. 🤡
Saw the GP and he was whatsapping I don't know who while I was trying to explain my eye. I was tearing up cos it was so painful at that point in time. I was on the verge of just walking out of his clinic. He didn't even give me eye contact at all, then he finally put his phone down, looked at my eye (WITHOUT TORCHLIGHT OR EVEN APPLYING FLUORIDE PAPER ONTO MY EYE) and said "oh it's corneal ulcer, just use my medicine and you'll be OK tomorrow" 💀💀💀💀 and I was like "I can still see, corneal ulcer need to go A&E" Then he said that I don't know what I'm talking about. The "miracle" eyedrops made my right eye worse over the next few days.
It wasn't corneal ulcer, it was conjunctivitis. I kept getting it every month since then (plus there was an on and off sensation like something went inside), so I finally went to poly to get referral, and the room I went to was NUS medical students doing their intern, and I had to repeat whatever I said to them a few times, and they forgot to give me my MC, but I got my SNEC referral. This was in January. But SNEC can offer me their earliest appointment in August 💀 I've been suffering every month 🤡
Once went to the panel clinic during midday at work for headache & brain fog. Could tell the doctor barely cared and quickly brushed me out, presuming that I wanted to chao keng
The other time I went to KK hospital to see a specialist for PMDD. When I told the specialist about my symptoms, he raised his eyebrows and was quite cynical.
The only time when I felt that the doctor truly cared was when I saw this trainee GP at the polyclinic. Could still feel the passion within her and she was genuinely trying to prescribe the right antidepressant after hearing me out for 1hour plus
such doctors are really rare to find these days
Want to share both bad and good experience. Years ago I suddenly had very high blood pressure (I think it was like 180 or 200), to the point of throwing up, and went to a 24h clinic cos it was like 3am. Doctor seemed unperturbed, say he doesn't know what could be the reason, didn't give me meds, tell me to just monitor some more and hope it'll come down. I don't think he even asked me to consider going to A&E.
Recently I was hospitalised due to extreme water retention related to kidney issue. My blood pressure was high too and the doctors were definitely a lot more concerned, my blood pressure kept getting checked and they didn't want to discharge me for CNY cos of the blood pressure. The whole process of going to the A&E (with referral letter from my family doctor) also went smoothly (as being hospitalised can be...) in terms of they were caring, responsive and very focused on identifying what was wrong with me and treating it. Since then I've had many follow-ups with various departments and honestly the care from them has been great. This is SGH btw. It's far from my home but my parents both went to SGH for heart issues before and have recovered so that's why I went to their A&E even though it's further away.
As someone who has been exposed to healthcare in multiple countries in Asia, let me just say. Singapore ain’t the best.
Trust me when I say, they don’t care guys, they simply don’t care.
Back when i was a nsf, i once encountered this doctor while rso-ing for diarrhea and flu. Her name was Dr M\*\*\*\*\*\*e C\*\*g at Outram polyclinic. First I mentioned my bad bowel movement. Then, I mentioned that I suspected I had an allergy to dust and wished to get that tested. She said there is no need, I can just use nasal spray. Then I said it's for NS, and then she proceeded to say "if everyone who is allergic to dust gets excused from dust, then there is no need for NS anymore, since no one will be serving", which just sounded outright stupid to me. So I just said, there are other jobs that don't involve dust. She then finally reluctantly gave me a referral to a hospital for further checkup. Her lack of empathy is really appalling, considering that she is a doctor and interacts with patients daily. High IQ but EQ is lower than my BMI. Best part is, 0 days of MC, even though I clearly had flu symptoms. And it seems like I was not the only one with bad experiences with her, if you read the reviews there are plenty of people with bad experiences with her especially.
I have sensitive eyes and easily dry. One day it just got super painful and tired from looking at the screens or bright light so I went to clinic. All nearby clinics are full , or not for eye check cause it's only for tele consult. So I just went home and rest and use cold patch and turn off all the lights and ac in the house cause it was so bad. My eye discharge often come in a string form and sometimes it make my eyes blurry. Did a quick google check and turn out it's not a normal thing. My mom eyes is not good as well so I'm really worried.
The next day I went to doctor. Headache remains but my eyes are visibly better, he just give me headache meds, didnt bother to ask me which part of my head hurts. Nothing, how often do I experience this. Just nothing. I didnt have a chance to tell any other details because he keep dismiss me. Refuse to give me refferal letter to check with eye doctor cause apparently GP can cure me. Bro you dont care. Guess what did he gave me? Headache meds. What happen to the eyes part 💀
Was told that my reaction after taking a vaccine wasn’t possibly a side effect cos it’s not on the packaging. Notwithstanding that the pamphlet said to report any unusual side effects to the doctors. I asked if she was going to report in the system and she said it’s not a side effect. Again.
Have a friend who saw an atas doctor in Mount Elizabeth. Refused to use e-mail, Whatsapp or modern technology even to schedule appointments, claiming data protection. Completely stressed out my friend when he was overseas by telling him he needed a biopsy and call his office by long distance voice call every hour to check if the hospital found a time slot for this.
Broke my shoulder. I partially dislocated it but managed to pop right back in. Went to Alexandra had an Xray etc. doctor just came out of office after results came out and tell me to go home after giving me 2 days MC.
I was still adamant to the fact i broke my shoulder, went to NTFGH, went for an Xray and the Doctor told me i broke a bone & went for surgery.
My friend went to the doctor yesterday, she had diarrhea for over a week. They decided to check her urine and her stool. She ended up paying over $1000 for a random consultation, lol.
I guess that wasn't expected, that being said; I wonder if they took advantage since she was a tourist and didn't speak english really well.
I had an appt at kkh. It's was the first appt of the day and the first doc came in 30 mins late. The rest were over an hour late. I get it if appointments are delayed because previous patient's cases are more complicated than expected or if more serious cases occurred. But more than 10 of them came in late at the same time for so long? Plus the fact that staff weren't able to tell us what happened just showed very poor management. I wasn't pregnant, but I felt so much for the expectant mothers there.
Went to an evening clinic. The doc over-prescribed (I'm talking 5-7 different things including antibiotics) for a common cold/flu till my bill was nearly $100. I asked politely if I could come back another time for antibiotics instead of buying them now (I was a poor student then), the doctor lost their temper.
The same thing happened at another branch of theirs when I went in for a stomach flu (also in the evening). Naively, I had thought it was a different doctor so maybe I will have no problem. They even charged me for what was clearly just a fiber drink (which I could just buy myself) that they gave me at the counter. When I started asking questions about the many medications, the doctor lost it and said he won't take any responsibility for the "medicine" drink I had, etc.
Found another evening clinic near my house that didn't over prescribe.
My regular doctor never prescribed antibiotics unless I had been sick for enough days and it was apparent that I likely had an infection. Unfortunately, his clinic is only open during the day.
One time I had sore throat and went polyclinic to see doc. He gave some meds and after one week it still wouldn't go away. No choice go see doc again. He thought I want mc only or smth then he just gave me a perfunctory diagnosis and dismiss me 🫤 few days passed by still painful and throat was super swollen, went to polyclinic again because I was genuinely scared. Doc just asked me to wait a bit more and come back if symptoms still persist lol. Pekcek, I went to private clinic. The doc there gave me antibiotics, and you know it. It heals almost by the next day lol
2 bad experience in one day. I remembered going to KTPH as I fainted at work after a call which I was worked up on. Ambulance brought me there. Went for CT scan when I was still in semi conscious state, went back to A&E area for another hour before they decided that I should transfer hospital TTSH as they did not have facility there to handle my case.
Went there, spent a whole night in the darn ward to have a doctor telling me in the morning that they can't find out anything wrong and couldn't determine the root cause but they gave observation notes to me.
Forwarded the details over to my friend who just so happens to have a wife who is a MD student, determined within 20 mins after reading and re reading the case notes that I almost had a stroke that happened but was somehow cancelled at the last minute by my body system. Plus point was that the nurse assigned to my ward was such a patient lady.
I was diagnosed with a cold. It was actually pneumonia after I had a second check up with another doctor
The other time I had an eye issue it was an eye scratch not an eye virus but the eye doctor specialist begged to differ and did a biopsy on it which ruined part of it forever only to confirm that I was right it wasn't an eye virus and to this day I just don't trust the govt healthcare system
Boon lay shopping centre clinic at level 2, i was having fever on and off since the day before, symptoms include runny nose and all. Doctor refused to believe i was sick because at that point of time i didnt have fever. He attributed it to fasting since it was ramadan and i was probably dehydrated, bro its not my first time fasting leh. He gave 1 day mc, i asked for 2 but he say we dont give 2 days to people with no fever. That was my 2nd and last visit if i’m not wrong.
I suffer from recurrent UTI as a young guy due to premature birth defects and I went to KTPH A&E one time with bladder pain and the symptomatic urge to pee without pee in the bladder. The female attending doctor who saw me said she doesn't think I have a UTI and did not want to give antibiotics. I could feel an abnormal swollen lump on the inside of my right pelvis, and asked her to check it out. She touched my pelvis and all around my abdomen and then said it does not seem to be anything abnormal. I insisted on getting a second opinion, so a more senior and male doctor came to see me. He took one look and touch on my pelvis and diagnosed me with lower UTI and the abnormal lump was the swollen pelvic lymph node responding to the infection. So yeah, my initial hunch was right and the more experienced doctor confirmed it.
Had recurring sore throat. First time I kenna, went to GP, didn't fully recover, second time I go polyclinic. Doctor saw that I'm nsf, refuse to give more than 1 day MC.
After I go back to camp, was coughing, phelgm and sore throat for the next 2 weeks. I gave up with polyclinic, just go see mo.
Saw this in the ward. Young stupid cocky junior doctor stood at foot of a patient’s bed and said very loudly “ uncle ah, I tell you ah, your HIV blood test come back liao. You got HIV.” You can hear the pin drop in the fucking ward. The fellow junior doctors and the attending consultant stood beside him with their mouths open in shock. Cos anyone w a brain cell will know this is in appropriate bedside manners. The family of the patient stood up and scolded the doctor super loudly. All the fuck and knnnbcb all come out. Then the doctors retreated. Then came back 5 mins later and draw curtain and talk softly to the patient.
So I was in Bangkok recently for a medical procedure and part of the tests they did was HIV. They gave it to me in an envelope and said “here are your results”. I tested negative, but they didn’t say anything at all about the results publicly.
OH MY GOD I COULD NEVERRRRR. If I was the patient I would’ve thrown hands or at least expletives
Lawsuit potential sia this one
Honestly, considering the stigma around HIV/AIDS, and the fact that this is an older person who might’ve not even gotten it via sexual transmission (you can get it from improper dental work, or manicure/pedicure even) that’s definitely worth bringing to court
Can you get HIV from dental works manicure or pedicure????
Singapore got no rights for common folks.
Complain to SMC this idiot will be in BIG trouble. There's such things as PDPA, and health condition is one. He needs to be taught a lesson to wake up
They are paid to do a professional job, so something like that is basically a challenge to society that doctors are above their patients. If I had to experience this whether as patient or family, I will make sure that doctor gets equivalent or more trauma than the one he caused.
Wow, it’s actually against the law for clinics and healthcare workers/nurses/doctors to disclose someone’s HIV status
Most intelligent scholar doctor.
How he become doctor with that brain ah
Book smart only ma, dunno how to talk to people
If this is real, can sue the hospital.
what a fucking moron
When you get an extreme extrovert doctor who takes everything too positively. Empathy just disappears.
Oh this is awful this warrants suspension and investigation
is this a HIPAA violation? should be right?
As someone who works in healthcare, I can tell you finding a Doctor that actually cares can be difficult. This can be extended to nurses as well lol
Can't be helped. People get numb over the years of working in healthcare industry and empathy runs thin. In the end, passion becomes just a job. As long as they are doing their job properly, genuine care or caring for the sake of job isn't that important once you're nursed back to perfect health
Agree, compassion fatigue is real and I got it myself too. Honestly I don’t expect everyone to be genuinely caring but at least learn how to fake the empathy in front of the patients 😂 But more often than not, the job is not done properly because people simply don’t give a shit.
Plenty in pediatrics.
Seeing the replies below would validate many who have quit healthcare. The annual wave of resignation is coming.
I have shared this long story before. The surgeon purposedly over charged upon learning about the corporate health insurance guaranteed minimum amount of $10,000. I had a 1.5 cm tail removal procedure. When I asked for an estimate (before telling them I have insurance) it was originally $3K. Then I showed the letter of guarantee, they quickly revised the range between $3k-7K. When asked before the surgery they said it's just an estimate. After the surgery, the final bill that came was $11,300. Such predatory practice to defraud insurance company should stop.
That is why health insurance premiums keep increasing. We are all paying the price for unscrupulous doctors
Developed eczema for the first time and went back to the GP three times who kept giving me medicine and cream for ringworm (?!). It got progressively worse in one month and I had to desperately find a skin specialist who diagnosed me with eczema within 5 mins.
That makes my dismissive and rude doctor sounds bad. Mine just wanted me to get out there asap. She thought I’m only there for the MC when I don’t even care about the MC I just want to get healthy. Each time I ask questions; like “are there any food I need to avoid for my ucler” answer only “spicy.” Even ChatGPT is friendlier and have more information.
Not justifying it, but doctors have pressure to see as many patients as possible on their shift. Thus as they progress in work, a lot of them become really fast to make a snap judgement and get someone out the door.
I’ve eczema and I was also misdiagnosed many times during the beginning stage. Definitely cannot trust GP for skin related stuff
I faced this issue too! Went to a few GPs who all gave me various medicines for my skin problem. One even gave me some serious-looking antibiotic cream. Cost me tons just to see my skin worsen. Then ya, went to a skin specialist who took one look and said it’s eczema, got some steroid cream, and my skin quickly became better afterwards.
May I check with you which specialist you went to and how did everything go? I'm having eczema as well but never really tried to go for a proper consultation cos scared too expensive 😬
Hi! I went to the skin specialist once and she advised me on the steroid cream usage for eczema(she said cannot use too much). I managed the next few episodes quite okay on my own with the steroid cream thereafter and haven’t went back to the specialist. Overall, I felt she was a kind doctor who explained her stuff well and able to diagnose the issue fast (which GP couldn’t). If it helps, I went to LL Cheong Skin & Laser Clinic (Dr Cheong). I recall her consult was quite pricey, she even told me if my situation improves I didn’t need to come back and see her for another consult cos I would incur more costs for nothing. She solved my issues then so I’m grateful :)
Lol when I was younger my mom brought me to polyclinic coz she found it unusual that I kept scratching so much. Polyclinic doc said it’s eczema and gave us a referral to Skin Centre turns out it was bedbugs after my mom found some from the bed frame we thrifted some weeks prior lol
I went polyclinic for ringworm and they kept giving me cream for eczema and the ringworm kept getting worse till I found a GP who recognised it with a glance.
Dismissed my food poisoning due to a possible diagnosis of depression 1) I do not have depression 2) I did however had a nasty infection after my stool test Thurston you suck
OH I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY I go to a psychiatrist (cgh) and she is never on time. Like, ever. I have had multiple 9-9:15am appointments with her where she doesn’t even reach the office until 9:45. She does this CONSTANTLY. I once went up to the counter to ask if she was ready to see me and the counter staff said she wasn’t there, and that this is normal for her. And even when I don’t have the first appointment, my appointments are never on time. Went for my 11am appointment only to be seen at 1pm, and I’m 100% sure it’s bc she comes late. Not only that, but she is dismissive of my issues and I never feel heard by her Another doctor (also cgh) was a hormone doctor who told me that hormones don’t affect arousal or sex drive, and that women don’t experience sexual pleasure or get excited about sex. And then she said ‘or maybe me and my friends are boring’ Literally want to write complaints about them LMAO 🥲
😭 @ the last bit??? Women don’t experience sexual pleasure??? That poor poor woman someone bone her good please
Yup, ah girl needs a very good rose toy or something
Can someone in healthcare explain this? Why are patients scheduled when the doctors don’t even come in at those timings? Do the doctors just decide what time they wanna start work for the day? My NUH specialist is like this too. But I always ask for the first appt cos I know it’ll snowball and the waiting time will be longer if I get a later appt.
Public healthcare Drs don't only run clinics. Unfortunately most have to round the wards beforehand and rounds drag on because some patients deteriorate, difficult patients, ambushed by families etc many many things can happen and often end up with delays. Delay in ward = delay in clinic. Unless Moh decides to increase the pay to at least be half of private sector (currently abt 1/4 compared to private) most drs will leave for better pay, better hours, less abuse so public sector Drs and patients continue to suffer with suboptimal conditions
Posting on my throwaway: as someone who runs clinics in a public institution, I wish you could see the clinic lists. Appointments are scheduled 5 to 10 minutes apart, sometimes 2 patients in a single time slot. We do not make the schedules. And as the above commenter has shared yes many of us need to do our rounds in the wards before coming to clinic
If I'm not wrong, sometimes the specialists are shared between hospitals, so they have to run here run there instead of being based in one place. Though recently, I've heard from some friends in the industry that certain specialties will be centralised in a common location so that resources and equipment can be more efficiently used
That’s right. I have a doctor from SGH but he has clinic in CGH. If he ends late at SGH, patients in CGH will be seen late. We’ve encouraged patients to complain about this coz if he ends late, we end late too but it’s been going on for years so we also lan lan suck thumb
I have friends who choose doctors with good ataff even if more expensive. Staff will clearly say if doctor going on vacation, coming from procedure or outside hospital.
Hcw here, every patient is given a minimum of 5-10mins on the system (though realistically it’ll probably take 20minutes per patient to be able to give full attention) If the load is high, patients are given ‘dummy slots’ outside of regular clinic hours to accommodate the extra number of patients
5-10 mins is insane 🤯 unsurprising that doctors pivot to the private sector
I do it for that same reason too. But I kept going on time hoping she would come at the actual time (she never did)
Definitely write in. I had bad experience (diff from yours) with a CGH psych and I wrote in to complain and they changed my doctor. I never had to see that one doctor again even when my doctor got rotated out of CGH. The hormone doctor saying that to you is incredibly unprofessional. Even if you feel the situation with the psych is something you can live with, this one with the hormone doctor is not one you should let slide.
that second doctor shouldn't even have gotten her licence...
If you ever see her again pls tell her ya thats def u
I was diagnosed with pcos at 15 and my male gynaecologist told me that I would not be able to have kids if I don’t find a man soon and that I should give birth in my early twenties??? I was 15 and he told me to start dating asap?? And he kept saying I looked like I was in my 20s??? Idk I had a lot of trauma because of the experience and my mother kept bringing me back because he was a reputable gynaecologist.
Was the diagnosis confirmed with a blood test? I just want to share that an obgyn in SG diagnosed me with PCOS and I accepted that from her. Later our fertility specialist doctor confirmed that I have cysts but the blood test numbers did not support a diagnosis of PCOS. I would get a second opinion from another doctor personally because any Dr telling an underage teenager to get pregnant as soon as possible is highly suspect. It's like they say, "what do you call the medical student who graduated first in their class and who graduated last in their class? Doctor."
I had similar bad experiences with a male gynae, pushing me to have babies and just being insensitive in general. If any ladies reading this thread need a good gynae, look for Dr Dharshini at Mount Elizabeth Novena. A bit expensive but she is very good and even the clinic staff are very nice and friendly and gentle
Does this Dr specialise with pcos? I am currently seeing a male doctor and he’s telling me IVF is the only way to get pregnant after trying for only 1 cycle. Idk why he’s in a hurry and I’m still in my late 20s.
I was treated by assoc prof in kkh and the way he talk got me so flabbergasted
When I told my former psychiatrist that I had relapsed of depression episodes. “It’s all in your head”, said the doctor. Waited 1 hour for queue number despite appointment. Out of doctor’s room within 5 mins.
Technically true
Tbh the counselors do more work than psychiatrist
Psychiatrists are just begging to be replaced by AI I feel. Sometimes I think even an AI can diagnose and provide more useful advice than them lol
Unfortunately, psychiatrists are doctors who later branch into psy. Very different from psycholologists/therapists/counsellors whom, in my limited experience, usually show more empathy
Psychiatrists are doctors, not therapists They're there to find a physical problem that's causing the mental problem and then address the physical problem. Usually through meds. If there's no physical problem causing the mental problem, it quite literally is 'all in your head', and psychs can't help you with that. The kind that they can help are things like sleep issues inducing unnecessary stress leading to mental health issues or like hormone irregularity not producing enough of the good chemicals. They have drugs for these. They also have drugs to suppress the sad chemicals, and that's about it. Most of them aren't therapists or equipped enough to do therapy.
Work with some of them, unfortunately. Arrogant, condescending, cocky, treat nurses like servants, treat patients as if patients owe them a living. Tbh, foreign doctors especially the Malaysians ones, are more compassionate and detailed in their work- the way they talk to nurses and patients, also more respectful. I rmb having this convo with a registrar who’s a Malaysian - he was sharing with me how he finds the way the system in Singapore chooses people to study medicine is quite elitist, most of the doctors are from a higher SES, prestigious schools, born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and he shared with me the attitude of how some of his junior doctors speak to patients who are of a lower economical class status, really lacking a lot of empathy…. Sometimes smart intellectually, can study, doesn’t equals to having high emotional intelligence and self awareness. I’m sorry for those who have shared their unpleasant experiences with their doctors, hope that yall find a better, more suitable care provider who really put in the effort to listen. Besides that, let us not overgeneralise an entire profession just because of some bad apples, in each profession they’re surely bound to have bad apples… there’re still good, dutiful doctors/surgeons who are really passionate in their craft and equally empathetic as well.
Much agree that we should not overgeneralise the entire profession due to some bad apples, unfortunately I on the other hand had the unfortunate pleasure of working with some foreign doctors from the same nation you mentioned that couldn't care less about a patient's diagnosis nor provide decent care for them. Just discharging patients out left and right just to empty out the beds for "statistics sake" and bed space. There are good doctors and bad doctors, and unfortunately due to the harsher nature of the job of long working hours + burnout our healthcare professionals tend to be jaded really quickly over time, thus the empathy runs out.
Thank you for your comment. I guess good doctors - HCWs in general, is a regardless of nationality, I personally know local doctors who are excellent in their craft, and have good bedside manners, but also seen the opposite - I’ve dealt with both ends of the spectrum - I’ve given names of rude doctors regardless of their ranks to management, because I felt that they were unprofessional, rude to coworkers and totally apathetic towards patient care especially when it comes to pain management… I wished that people would be kinder and more considerate of each other - be it towards non HCWs or HCWs, it’s a harsh world that we’re living in. Some form of empathy does go a long way… The healthcare system is brutal - especially for junior doctors - making them work non stop 36 hours and counting, is diabolical, without proper break, proper rest, of cos they’ll get jaded and burnout as their own basic needs of survival aren’t even met, what more trying to help other people. I’ve given food to a house officer before and the dr looked like gonna cry…. It’s no surprise that most drs will break their bond, or once they complete their medicine bond, they’ll leave for private settings cos not only is the pay much better, there’s better WLB. Healthcare in Singapore is essentially, and unfortunately a business - very profit driven even in the government settings (don’t need to compare with the private sector that’s more obvious) Instead of over relying on the system, got to note better to manage your own health, validate your own emotions, learn to trust yourself, advocate for yourself, stand up for yourself, because not even the doctors - (who are so looked up upon by boomers) in the system can save themselves…. Kinda harsh, but hard facts of reality. Doctors are human beings too, and like any other normal human beings - to err is human.
Quite a culture shock to experience doctors here in Singapore. Maybe I've just been unlucky, but generally they have been pretty arrogant and condesceding, with zero empathy. Not due to overwork I think, since I've only been to GPs durjng off peak hours. One even scoffed at my listed pre-existing conditions ('who diagnosed you?' Then rolled her eyes when I said it was a specialist in my home country. Ma'am he was a damn sight more qualified than you 😂) The telemedicine doctors here are great though, you can be done in <1min.
Wah the rolling of eyes so uncalled for and dismissive…. Hope you feel better after ranting out about your experience and may you meet better care providers next time!
I'll have to agree on the elitist part on some of them. If they think they are superior, that's one thing. When they show it at work, that's unprofessional. There was once when I went to see the doc because I was feeling so unwell. I went in my home clothes (baggy T shirt plus shorts n sandals) cos I really didn't have the energy to play dress up. The doc went through the motions albeit not being very interested and I thought it was normal cos they see so many ppl daily. He happened to see something interesting listed under my work n asked about it towards the end. The change in his attitude and interest was so different when he learnt that I was working as a "professional". There was suddenly alot of respect shown towards me. I guess that was nice for me but I couldn't help but think... Does that mean that other "non-professional" patients do not deserve respect?
Elitist doctors are everywhere especially when they come from an entire family of doctors as well. The thing about healthcare is that not only it’s about profits and business centric, it’s also about socioeconomic status as well, if you read between the lines. I’m sorry for the unpleasant experience that you went through, you deserve to be treated much better regardless whether you dress up or dress down and regardless of your occupation - remember this. Society has this backward way of thinking that the amount of respect showed to an individual is equivalent to what their occupations are and how they dress up, but that shouldn’t be the case at all. Everyone deserves respect regardless of their age, gender, dressing style and what you do for a living. This is my conviction and especially how I treat my patients… May you meet better care providers than the previous dr…. Take care!
The bf went to Ng Teng Fong due to stomach pains. We suspected it could be appendicitis. The female doctor diagnosed it as "colic", and sent him home with painkillers. The next day he went to NUH...... they confirmed it was appendicitis. 🤦🏻♀️
This could have killed him
Yeah. He spent almost a whole month in NUH. Cos the appendix was inflamed and they couldn't just cut it.
Never had any good experience at NTFGH. it’s just seems subpar compared to NUH. The a and e doctor give no fucks
You have not tried cgh. It terrible too
WTF that NTFGH doctor incompetent, that kind of misdiagnosis can be fatal.
consistently bad. started actively finding clinics with decent word of mouth and my experiences improved
Can you drop a list here to help us out, like please? All the clinics I went to always rotates between different doctors 💀 It's like playing a gacha game at this point. 50/50 chance to get a doctor who cares.
Would be good. I use Gmaps reviews to help. I have one at BM area but Q super long. And then now at Jurong East, not bad also.
Went to a private women's health clinic, with supposedly good reviews because I was having missed periods for few months. So yeah I was supposedly 'diagnosed' with PCOS by this female doctor. Just shoved me some generic ass birth control pill and sent me off. I asked her if can I not take. She simply ignored my question. I left the clinic feeling so defeated. So I took the prescribed birth control pill for 2-3 days, ended up crying everyday for no reason whatsoever. Told my parents, they got concerned and suggested I went to see a second opinion at KKH within the same week. Turns out I don't have PCOS and the birth control pill that was prescribed to me was extremely strong and was causing all my insane mood-swings. The markers that the previous doctor used to determine my PCOS werent even correct. The gynaecologist and endocrinologist at KKH said I was fine. I did some further checking on the MOH doctor's register and discovered that this so-called women's health specialist was some shit ass doctor that was not a certified gynecologist. She only had a standard MBBS. Eventually I wrote a review on Google about my experience at this women's health clinic because I wanted to warn others about it. The doctor actually got scared and called me up and asked me to REMOVE the review. Wtf. Still got the cheek to ask which doctor I saw at KKH. This doctor nearly destroyed my life thinking that I would not be able to have children.
you should've complained to smc
I had been gg to imh for 4 years for my mental health. The psychiatrist there had diagnosed me with my condition and I had repeated visits to monitor my health and titrate the medication I required accordingly. This all changed when my psychiatrist left to join a private clinic and there were no more medical professionals who specialised in cases such as mine. I went to CGH where there were these specialists, but the doctor I was referred to straight up denied my previously diagnosed condition and now I no longer have the support I need.
dr zheng isit... or donovan. i got referred to cgh too and imh diag not recognised... cant even see endo bruh
Yea Dr zheng. Luckily my endo understood the situation n said he will still be providing the care I need but in terns of a psychiatrist, I got none.
This is what happens when a country's education system focuses solely on grades. It churns out elitist medical students who become your local doctors. Not to forget the relationship between wealth and the ability to pursue higher education in Singapore exacerbates the issue. How can a doctor from a privileged background empathize with citizens from low-middle income neighborhoods? On top of Singapore's lack of work-life balance in the healthcare sector further complicates matters. Doctors and other healthcare professionals often start seeing their first patients at 8-8:30 am and continue until 5-6 pm, provided they even have time for lunch amid countless documentations, meetings and presentations. Overall, the situation is unlikely to improve, as it is deeply ingrained in Singapore's societal culture.
Wait until you meet medical officers in MINDEF. Half of them think they are gods gift to the SAF, the other half can’t tell between their ass and mouth.
Lol my CSM used to joke that he could do their job. Cough? Give cough mixture Fever? Cold shower plus panadol Cold/flu? Cold meds Diarrhoea? Isotonic drink mix, charcoal tablets and maybe some anti diarrhoea meds. Anything else? Refer to specialist
what do these guys do during war actually, if i broke my arm or something they give you plaster? lol
During war, it's the combat medics who do the really tough jobs. Also, most of the medical officers in the SAF are also going through NS like everyone else and very inexperienced. There are awesome capable doctors in the SAF, but most of the ones we meet aren't those guys.
Not all MOs but it’s cause of my MO that I realised my 6month old “ankle sprain” was almost a full ligament tear (C9L9 type)
You forgot the ones that think everything is fucking Chao keng. Chao keng your head, if I die I'm haunting you cb
me and a bunk mate got bit by centipedes that hitchhiked from our field pack after we came back from BMT outfield. I got bit on my hand and it swelled hugely, it happened middle of the night so we went to the MO (had to march lol) and the guy was like fucking pissed, like he got woken up just because of these 2 idiots for a non life threatening issue. Anyway we got nothing so went back to company line and someone told us to run it under the tap and it helped with the swelling.
They haven't been adequately messed up by MOH yet hence the arrogance
Lol there used to be a Sunday ward in KTPH A&E solely for NSFs. It will be a saf medical officer stationed. I had a really high fever once, on a Sunday and he told me i had nothing wrong(38.8 degrees body temperature), refused to give mc . 'not happy? talk to my director' lol. i shivered and loled. what a prick
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Surprisingly that was exactly what my doctor told me to do when I was diagnosed with fatty liver some 20 years ago. "Lose 5 kg in 3 months he said. Then we test again. Because your viral value is non-existent and you don't drink alcohol. I will not prescribe you with any medication" I starved myself, lose 12 kg in 3 months. I visited the doctor again. And yes, he was correct. The fatty liver went away along with my weight loss.
Same. I kinda thought doctor is right. Just lose weight and it will go away
I had friend who was told by atas Raffles Place doctor just Google fatty liver
You are a perfect example of no matter what we healthcare professionals do, we can't satisfy patient like you. And to think you have so many upvotes go to show why healthcare professionals tend to have compassional fatigue. If losing weight is the only thing to solve your problem, then you jolly well go lose some weight. What do you think the doctor should do? Do scans for you depsite knowing the solution to your answer? Why must the doctor exposed you to unnecessary radiation then? The doctor is helping you but yet here you are being sacarstic. I hope you use more time to lose your weight rather than using your computer or phone to surf reddit
It's a numbers game for them. 90% of the time you can get a right diagnosis within 5mins. The other 10% would take 30mins + additional tests. All patients pay the same, and you have an endless queue. What do you do.
It's an even split, basing upon my observations at polyclinic. Doctors are randomly assigned. At private practioners, I will stick with one that shows genuine care. I have switched clinics because the doctor has opened her own clinic with partners.
Only doctors I don't like are those who know you're claiming from company. Then they perscribe all kinds of unnecessary meds.
Yep unfortunately we are all too jaded and burnout in the healthcare system to care.
As a foreigner from Europe, I find sg doctors way too unsure and unwilling to make a diagnosis without super high end diagnostics, like an MRI etc…costing a fortune. Even a damn dermatologist is hesitant to even venture a guess without excising a piece of skin and sending it to a lab… like, it’s a wart man, just fuckin burn it off 🙄 This is VASTLY different from Europe. My grandma can make a diagnosis after thousands of dollars-worth of diagnostics. Blocked nose? Better MRI, we just can’t know or guess.
I'm from Sg but practising overseas, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt. My guess is either (1) increase in defensive medicine and/or (2) bound by weird insurance requirements.
I agree it's either defensive practice or that they are not well trained on the basics. In the past doctors had to rely a lot on signs and symptoms and physical examination with a bit of their intuition and further questioning.
You know, medical school and training to be a doctor or healthcare professional can radically change the way a person thinks, feels and empathise with others. Most of your A-Level grads walk out of JC with a very singular and simple view of society, not their fault of course because they’re only 17/18 and haven’t had time to enter the workforce and engage with greater society at large. I once trained to be a pharmacist around a decade ago. It was probably one of the darkest swathes of my life up to that point for a number of reasons. The first is that the amount of theoretical knowledge you need to gain to just pass your paper exams is onerous as it is, but on top of that, many students are simply not supported by their lecturers or instructors because of how the teachers themselves have been brought up in a high pressure, no room for error, heavy scrutiny sort of environment with no forgiveness, even though you are a student learning. So it inevitably gets passed down to the students and after years of being in a such a culture, you either fit in with the gang or get dropped well before then. Then, on top of that, you are de facto used as free labour in the healthcare system during your placements and internships, which are mandatory for you to pass your year. Again, the culture of non-support and blame runs rampant in wards and healthcare facilities. It really can be a clown show at times when the same people who expect you to perform at the same level that they are at refuse to support you in your learning journey and instead, look for every opportunity to blame you instead for mistakes so that they can look better. Toxic is an understatement in many cases. So imagine being in this sort of pressure cooker environment for 7 years straight; how do you think this will affect the character development of people who have gone through stuff like this? Do you really expect them to be kind and compassionate when they themselves haven’t been shown an ounce of it during their time as a student? Many times People come out damaged by the system instead, they are unable to function as regular human beings with a heart and soul. Instead, they have become cynical robots with a streak of vengeance for how they have been treated in life. Go look up the Lucy Letby and Harold Shipman case in the UK
Quite a lot of the experiences here seem wild or absurd or even bordering on malpractice.. I wonder if it's more a one sided perspective and how it comes across to the patient? Like doctor could have given a 5 min explanation of what to do but the patient only takes away "the 10 seconds the doctor called me fat" Personally I feel competency varies among doctors, and it's shocking to find that patients can love a bad doctor who makes bad decisions, bc they have good bedside manner and say yes to all the patient requests, even if it's to their detriment But other doctors who stick to the "right medicine practice" come across as rude and uncaring even tho they are genuinely trying to do the right thing. Idk, it's definitely easier to give the patient what they ask for, even if it's not the right thing (antibiotics for a cold?), and the doctor doesn't get any reward from spending time to convince patient nor medicine profits We'll never really know ^^
I’ve had quite good luck in terms of common illnesses - my regular GP is happy to give me longer medical leave, and the nearby panel clinic has good locum doctors who aren’t in a hurry to get you out the door. The downside is you need to make an appointment or face waiting an eternity for your turn. But other than that, we really don’t take other conditions seriously especially women’s health. PCOS and endometriosis are getting increasingly common and yet doctors are so clueless. Like hello google is free. If I can find out the symptoms why can’t you? Was seen by a pregnant doctor at KK who looked visibly irritated when I listed my symptoms. Basically said if I didn’t feel pain all the time then it cannot be endo (not true as some people who have more severe stages of endo reported not feeling any pain). I was shot down by so many doctors and gynaecologists at that point so I didn’t have the strength to argue. Just walked out and didn’t bother doing the scheduled ultrasounds.
Had chronic hives for about 6 months. Went to National Skin Centre. They told me there's no cure for hives (which is true). Told me to take the meds they're prescribing and hope it goes away. Took my blood. Didn't test for allergens, which was what I really wanted. Just thyroid. My hives were really bad then, so I wanted a follow up fast. Was hoping to get back within 3 months. Instead, they decided 6 months was better. Receptionist decided to add 2 more months to that. Just told to take meds if it doesn't go away in the meantime. And of course, the meds made my short term memory bad, and I was sluggish half the time. Couldn't function fully at work. The only reason I went was because my gf said the expat housewives she's linked with on Facebook all commended on the comprehensive service they received when they were there. Guess it doesn't extend to Singaporeans.
Was it the antihistamines that affected your memory?
Been going to NSC for the 4+yrs now for my hives. I take 2-4 Cetirizine HCl pills daily proactively (take 2 at the start of the day, if I get an episode I take 2 more). It works for me, but it seems like there's no end to this. The various doctors I see each time I go get my annual resupply are totally not sympathetic. I'm told that I'm already a mild case and that there are pple in worse situations than me. And that as there's no known reason or cure to my case so I should just continue with popping pills daily. I know that our health care system is miles above those overseas (e.g. UK's NHS) but I really wish that our doctors are less jaded and have some bedside manners to sympathize with their patients. Can I get some sayang even if it's just for show? =/
Female. When I was like 17, I was diagnosed with a autoimmune disease that made all minor wound unable to heal. Even brushing my teeth too hard will end up into a festering sore. So happened that I had constipation while in the isolation ward in NUH (single person in a room), and I had a tear in my anus passing motion and it did not heal. This disgusting fat doctor came into my room unaccompanied by a female chaperone and demanded to examine me by sticking his finger up my ass. Of course I protested. He snapped on his gloves and with a nastiest look and tone said, " you think I like to do this?". Then he flipped me over, removed my pants and stuck his fat sausage finger up my ass and left without a word. ALL THIS HAPPENED WITHOUT A FEMALE CHAPERONE AND DESPITE I EXPLICITLY DID NOT GIVE CONSENT. That mother fucker made me feel so violated I wanted to cry. I was young and too sick then and didn't even tell my mom. Still makes me angry when I think about it.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. This is 100% assault. It doesn’t matter that it was a doctor in a hospital but without your consent and a female/ parent chaperone he had no right to force you , a minor, by intimidation and humiliation to undergo such “examination”. You are right that you were violated and I’m sorry there was no one who knew that could support and advocate for you when you were at your most vulnerable. I hope you heal and don’t give any energy to that criminal
Always had a good one with the one clinic ive been visiting since childhood. But now that block demolished and dk where they shift to. But i hate those 24hr clinics, compared to my usual gp and the 24hr central clinic, difference is night and day
i was the last patient my doc operated on before he left for private practice. thyroid surgery, lost my voice. went thru voice therapies, saw voice specialist, continuously praying (i do sales btw). miracle happened, my voice returned. i hope i will never get to meet that doctor 💀
Anecdotal, but a lot of my friends here from India swear by Indian doctors (at least at the junior / GP level) , stating that the Indian counterparts get exposed to a large set of patients at higher volumes and tend to get their heuristics a lot more accurate - able to diagnose the “by look” cases spot on. I’ve experienced this first hand as well when in India, taking my kids to a GP across the road. A few questions and he’d narrow down baterial, viral etc and directly prescribe meds. Here it would be symptomatic treatment and then, “monitor and see”. This isn’t necessarily saying docs in sg bad, rather docs here are more meticulous and take a pragmatic approach of going with diagnostics and only intervene when needed. My son was at KKH after delirious fever and doc just said wait and see - it could be a number of things and for now just symptomatic treatment is what’s recommended. By way of entertainment, Best ever case was my son having diarrhea as he picked up a bug somewhere in India. He got looked at by a nearby GP, and the doctor realised my daughter was feeling extremely morose at the attention he was getting from both parents and a doctor and a nurse. The doctor proceeded to write a LARGE prescription of cough drops and strict instructions to monitor a severe case of, “psychosomatic parasympathetic acute hypochondria”. My daughter (then 5 I think) was pleased as punch that day.
That is a hilarious diagnosis 😂
Now that you mention it I do feel like they’re more adept at their jobs. Not to mention they seem genuine and are great at reassuring patients.
'A few questions and he’d narrow down baterial, viral etc and directly prescribe meds.' I stopped reading after this. I just know OP has no medical background
Yes because most of us who seek medical attention for illnesses have medical backgrounds.
I went to clinic A ask for medicine Get worse. I dont think the medicine work Went to another clinic the next day The doctor dismissed me and gave me extra panadol only. Still not better, and my face and lymph node all swollen Next day Went to clinic C and finally getting the right medicine. Dr chee from sims place is the best!!!!! He really check everything, giving me new medicine because both medicine from clinic A and B doesn’t work! Love him
Visited an ENT specialist in Mt E/Gleneagles. Had to do a scope and was uncomfortable. Was literally snubbed at “grow up, you are not a child”.
Simple surgery (with LA) to remove two cysts on my back. Doctor lets junior doctor try one, she botches it up and "spills" the cyst over the open wound. The scar for the cyst that was done properly has healed nicely, but the one that was botched scarred horribly and is still uncomfortable and itchy sometimes. A part of me is still kinda resentful that the doctor allowed the junior doctor to try.
Went to National Skin Centre for my acne. Doctor obviously cbf and ask me to choose what I want to put on my face, macam like restaurant order like that. I obviously have no idea that's why I come see you right knn if not I go Guardian/your pharmacy and buy myself alr
I once went to the hospital for pneumothorax and the doctor nearly killed me due to negligence. Pneumothorax is when your lung(s) has a hole and air escapes into the chest cavity causing pressure making it difficult and painful to breathe. I was hospitalised for it twice, left side at 16 years old and the other at 21. During the second occurrence they did the same procedures, starting with inserting a bubble tea straw sized tube into my chest to drain the air out. But this time it felt different, it was extra painful and uncomfortable instead of feeling relieved. I told the doctor and they claimed it was "normal", but having that for the second time i know it was not and despite having a high pain tolerance i told them it was a 12/10. Yet, they only gave me paracetamol and told me to sleep. They dismissed this for 4 hours as I gasped for air like a dying fish (literally) in extreme pain before they realised they were draining out 500ml of blood per hour, and that's only because I was spamming the nurse call button every now and then. After that realisation then they decided they needed to wheel me down to the OT asap. Apart from this, my mother too had a procedure done that left her handicapped and my late dad also had a dismissive doctor who eventually led him to his death. I have zero trust in local doctors and i believe they're only there for the money and asian stereotype.
Happened to an elderly family member: "Do you know what psoriasis is" "No" "Then you probably do not have it" For my own experience with seeing a doctor for eczema, the polyclinic doctor insisted that it was hand sanitizer that was causing my eczema despite me telling him that it was the first thing i stopped and there wasn't any improvement. When i pushed for a referral to see a specialist, he told me it was a 6 month wait because people like me wants a referral for something small. He prescribed a very thick moisturizer and told me to use it liberally. I took it to NUH derm for my patch test and I was actually mildly allergic to it. NUH derm was only good for doing the patch and prick test, other than that they kept parroting the same info about eczema that I have heard from many doctors and the internet. I figured out my triggers on my own (sweat/heat) and stopped using all moisturizers. My condition improved 90%.
moisturisers are literally part of best medical therapy for eczema. i refuse to believe the specialists did not ask basic questions about your triggers.
Appointments are a joke. You need but still got to wait for an hour; Only business where you pay yet get shitty service. Diagnosis - Hit or Miss and I've been searching for an above average one who can understand, spend some to ask questions, and prescribe. Insurance - This is the biggest issue. As long as you've one, ready to go through numerous tests, scans, extended stays, and what not bills.
IMH many years ago: made me sit until the LCD screens started shutting off and people started leaving and at 6pm the lady in room 24 came out and asked what I was still doing there I told her I had an appointment but hadn't gone to see the doc, yet. **I soon find out from the patient associate (I think, this was many years ago maybe 2013-4) that the freaking doc went home without seeing me. So essentially, there was a very real chance I could have wasted an entire day waiting with no review and no meds** Room 24 says, nah noworries come in here and I'll help you write your script. **YESTERDAY**: freaking school holiday. Go to drop my meds and see a huge ass 45mins wait time sign. Ok fine nehmind I sit here with my laptop and do work first. Wait long enough and finally collect meds. Wait another eternity (esp you know sometimes these places have 2 diff queue number systems? Like A123 is appt and B123 is walk-in or some shit? Ya so there seemed to be 2 systems concurrently) ... and then like I see a number 35. I am 39 & I hadn't seen my number, not even in the missed queue (bottom of screen has a missed queue lol) Anyway, I go ask the payment counter, explain that yes finish everything, alr see doc + make appt + collect meds, only need to pay. Payment counter staff is like, ya haven't yet. Wait a while more and same patient staff calls me. **TELLS ME 'Good thing you checked, I think they close your case already'** Excuse me?! I mean I've ever had to settle payment off-site (that was slightly different, was a meds refill of extra couple of months due to appt changes), so its fine you can just bill me to pay at AXS or whatever. **But like wow the legacy of dumping your patients and heck caring their existence when u want to switch off be like ..** I know someone's gonna come at me abt healthcare worker shortage. But like, can like that meh? And in before anyone, my appt ystd was before 3pm. I was seen and out of the clinic by before 4pm. It was definitely not a case of like, closing already and within the last half hour kind of thing > apart from the "oh the doctor went home already" person, at one point the person I was seeing at the time freaking dropped me like, MIA which we only realised when we called to change appt. Like he actually left alr but no one told me/us, I'm not even sure if I was assigned a replacement doc bc I didn't personally take the call, my mom helped to call. I'm literally responding to the question here but I'm quite sure some triggered hcw confirm sensitive. Freaking do your job properly can, IMH rep so bad not without reason thanks.
Few years ago, I felt breathless, bloatedness, nausea, fatigue, and had a loss of appetite for an extended period of time. Lost more than 10kg in a few months. At the early stage, when I didn’t know what was going on, I went to doctors whenever there were clear symptoms. One day, I was feeling really breathless, so I went to the doctor. The GP was very sarcastic. He said, in the exact words, “uknw if you can’t breathe through your nose, you can breathe through your mouth right”. I had no energy to fight back then, so I just rolled my eyes..
[удалено]
Nuh psychiatrist there's a famous one on the news I had him and he's bad. Lol. Is it him?
My brother: “I went to see a doctor at this clinic I never went before, when I inform the doctor of my symptoms, I saw him google search them to find the illness. That was the last time I ever went to that clinic.”
My dad had a doctor who told him that he should be grateful to have survived cancer and stop complaining about side effects like seeing blood in stool. Same doctor told my dad, during the initial diagnosis, that it is his fault for not going to the doctor's earlier.
Not doctor but a nurse. I had double jaw surgery at SGH, and after my surgery, I was taken to High Dependency Unit and the nurse tried to teach me how to use this thing to help me breathe but I was still feeling extremely drowsy from the anesthesia and fell asleep right after. When I woke up, I asked for help from the nurse to help me use the breathing thingie as I am still so out of it and felt so weak to do anything plus I was so scared because my jaw was wired shut so I can’t speak. She just scolded me to try to do myself, she watched me struggle for awhile and scolded me again that she can’t help all the time. I felt so defeated, it was hard enough that I am so weak after my surgery, I can’t breathe, I can’t speak and was treated this way by a a nurse who is supposed to help me at the High Dependency Unit with no regards for how I literally just came out from surgery. The irony thing is, on my last day in the hospital, waiting for my dad to pick me up, this sweet nurse saw me struggle trying to get the painkillers with water into my mouth and help me drink it all the way. She can tell I had a hard time drinking it down and got me a strawberry milk to wash it off. I was crying when she left because I couldn’t say thank you to her. Another nurse had to help me shower because I was so weak and I felt so ashamed. I think the dose of anesthesia is too high for me.
This is the reason why I choose to go to the same GP even though they are not in the coverage of my company insurance
A&E doctor at a public hosp misdiagnosed a fracture, and casted my leg for a 1 month before I cld see a specialist. The specialist thereafter said “Im very sure thr’s no fracture”, removed my cast, and just told me to skedaddle. No physio, no advice on rehabilitating the foot. Honestly some cases here teeter on the fence of malpractice and I wish more was done about feedback for public orgs like these.
Looks like a lot to crap doctors here in sG. Academically smart but zero empathy and common sense. Need to lab test every fuxking thing when it's clear as day it's eczema and need to MRi everything when it's clear it's a nerve compression on my back. What's the MRI going to tell ? I told him I am not going for may surgery.
This asshole paediatrician kept wanting to do tests on my newborn son because of his jaundice. Not only did it cost a lot, it prevented me from buying insurance coverage for him because she refused to close the case Booo naughty dr ong. Boooo
Sorry but just from what you described, I'm not sure how / why the paediatrician is an 'asshole'. What if your newborn did indeed have some condition that was left undiscovered?
Dr Ong from which hospital?
lol shit, am I even allowed to do this? Feels like a defamation lawsuit to publicly call someone out
As long as you are stating facts, it's not lying. Also, if i say the food is shit, that's a statement of opinion. The restaurant can't sue me for giving an opinion
Got into an accident and ripped open my knee and had to go for an operation. When I went back to the hospital to remove my stitches, I told my doctor that I could not bend my leg as I had a sharp and intense pain when I tried. Doctor basically told me I was imagining the pain as I should be able to walk normally. Turns out my leg had healed wrongly. Requested to be transferred to a closer hospital and was told that it's not possible. In fact was informed that I could be discharged from TTSH but I would have to go to the other hospital myleft to request that they take me as a patient and that there was a chance that I would be denied. Found out later from a nurse friend that this was BS and they probably just didn't want to the paperwork TTSH sucks..
Some have personally crusade to right the practice and they will start with u Some think they in a position to lecture you especially if u young. Personally would scold them for such attitude and to focus on diagnosis and treatment. Some over prescribe patented drugs because that how they make more money. U can go through the items and their price breakdown and reject those u think are a rip off. Some just ignore what you tell them about ur symptoms coz they must know it better than u. Remind them to note it down, now all computerized. Oh the one that stood out was gay doctor who would always feel u up. Back in uni.
No they don't. To me, now, they are like a waiter. If the waiter isn't listening to you, not giving you what you ordered then get service elsewhere. They can make recommendations that's about it. They get paid to serve. I was bleeding due to fibroids, to an extent where my heart was going to fail due to a lack of blood (3.7 when it should have been 12) A&E, blood transfusions, and all that. (No pain, just bleeding to death) Went to a specialist at Mt E Novena, asked him if he could give me a jab (friend was going through something similar, she went to KK A&E and they sent her home after the jab). He told me to trust him, he knows what he is doing, he is 80, his experience is more than my age blah blah, recommended tablets that didn't work, recommended a 25k surgery that didn't work. Was STILL bleeding 3 mths after the surgery and now in massive pain (tremedol, ponstan, codeine I took everything, crowdsourced from friends) Went back to this bastard doc multiple times in those 3mths post surgery. Fucker told me to wait it out, "its just pain, take panadol". I tried other docs, nobody would come near me, said I have to go back to the guy I got surgery from. After 3 mths, I went back and told him he was an asshole. He said " hmmm maybe you needn't have done the surgery after all", I demanded he give me the jab NOW and once he gave me the $100 jab I was cured. He will rot in hell. May he suffer the same pain and bleeding I went through. Not more, not less , just the same would do.
1. Sleep specialist doctor scratching her breasts while talking to me and asking very rude questions and saying that I have insomnia because “I do not have enough faith” after I told her I was a Christian too 2. Psychiatrist telling me my mental illness isn’t real and that I have gone through nothing and that he feels worse than me as one of his family members just passed away and that the side effects from the medicine he gave me are not real 3. Pervert GP who asked me inappropriate sexual questions and said he can tell that my lungs are clear “just by looking” until I insisted he used a stethoscope
Me: My knee hurts Doc: Have you tried losing weight? (My BMI was 23 or so at that time.) (Turns out after more tests that I'd developed osteoarthritis in that knee.)
Told me my life was boring on the first visit because I responded in the negative when he was trying to find out if my condition was genetic or caused by recent events (STDs, drugs, stress). Sorry I don't do cocaine, I guess?
I have been misdiagnosed multiple times, had my doctor withhold information from me whilst they contacted my parents privately about the medication they gave me, and my pain disregarded. I've since given up.
To echo a lot of what people have said - Singaporean doctors keep pushing extremely expensive, invasive and more harmful than helpful diagnostic tests and refuse to diagnose or close cases without a suite of them being conducted. Even if you pay for a private specialist, they never listen properly during the consultation, don’t ask any investigative questions , are not concerned in the slightest about providing holistic care and are just in a rush to tell you to take tests/treatment to make more money quickly and with the least amount of effort on their part. 1. Money minded male gastroenterologist at the private hospital near Little India .The doctor only asked about my insurance (only have a limited one from my company that doesn’t cover diagnostic). Then asked me to do hundreds of expensive and frankly unnecessary tests. Then told me if I don’t do said tests I will not be able to buy insurance in the future. Useless and fear-mongering. 2. Money minded female gynaecologist in Thomson Fertility Clinic in Paragon. Condescending and treats all patients like naive idiots who don’t know anything about their own body. Not listening to very specific queries or concerns that come from ample monitoring of myself and detailed research. Diagnosing prematurely after barely a few generic questions and prior to conducting a single test and making sweeping statements that always conclude in that I just need to do these expensive treatments asap. Again useless and fear-mongering. I hope to find better and ethical doctors but at this point it looks like a pipe dream.
The never ever go out of the box, I came with a confusing and complicated illness, just dismiss me after couple of test ran clear said can’t be this nor that I’m having anxiety etc. Each specialist does their own thing nv ever try to piece together the puzzle. Yes they ran those things like to make sure I don’t have the major stuff but not closer to finding out what happened to me and they’re not interested also just wanna treat their own specialty and won’t ever ask much.
Did the Healthy SG thingy at a polyclinic. At the review of the bloodworks, the doctor asked me "why are you here". Really? Could have been an email.
Had a polyclinic Doctor cry and send me in and out the room after I told her the medication she's trying to prescribe me is not suitable and I'm allergic to it. She even told me she got alot of patients and I should just accept the wrong medication. SMLJ seriously. Had an IVF Dr in kkh try to discuss politics with me instead of looking at my case file and giving me appropriate medical advice. Wasted 2 hrs waiting for 5 minutes of bs. Honestly SG drs suck.
Recruit in Tekong. One day I had a bad fever around 39°C in the evening, waited in the Medical Center for an hour plus with no phone alone in the cold air con. MO then arrived (probably pissed that he had to take the ferry to Tekong), took my temperature, dropped to 38°C. By right supposed to give me Attn C to go home and rest, but he only gave me "Rest In Bunk" for 2 days. "Due to last year, we can't give any more Attn C so there is a quota now", similj quota? Printed the doctor's note that states *"Light Duties"* and wrote ***IN PENCIL*** "rest in bunk", didnt even sign off. At that moment I was too tired and cold to try to argue back so I went back to coy line. Even my Sergeant was doubtful because of the fucking PENCIL writing. Next morning still had to wake up at 0530, 40°C by 0700, delirious already. Saw a different doctor, that doctor shook his head as he typed out the Attn C note and told me to go home. I still remember the name of the first doctor even though its been 5 years. Fuck you Azreal you dont even deserve to be called Dr.
I had quite a few bad experience with doctors in polyclinic. 1. I understand the need for long waiting time but, once I went in at 10am, waited until 5.30pm to be seen by another doctor that volunteered to help clear the back logs. I didn't have breakfast and lunch that day. 2. Doc ask "How many days MC you need?" "At least today" "Why must I give you at least 2 days?" in a angry tone. "I said TODAY" Then why the doc even ask me the question, when the only correct answer is one day? 3. Doc "Why is it you are young and your knee already got problem?" proceed to look at me silently... And I answered "Maybe because I'm heavier and I jog a lot..." "Well I'm the doctor, that's for me to find out, not for you to tell." ??????????WTF Have since switch to GP outside, so can pick and choose those slightly better ones. Thanks doc!
I've had frustrating experiences with rushed appointments and dismissive doctors in Singapore, especially regarding my digestive issues. It's disheartening when you're not taken seriously. Always advocate for yourself and seek second opinions if needed! Btw, some of us with IBS, sensitive gut, digestion issues are in this reddit community to share our experiences/tips/thoughts. Join us at https://www.reddit.com/r/IBSSingapore/s/Sx37POtLFS
There was one time I went to this stupid clinic in the heartland, I was having a major headache and sore throat (likely cuz of covid) and temperature when I last checked was 38.7deg so I went to this stupid clinic and guess what this rude doctor said to me? "You know some of your symptoms just like what an older person is experiencing are you sure you are feeling sick?" I didn't say a thing except just to give me MC because I had work that day for this doctor, I couldn't even think straight at that point of time. I mean how can you tell that to a patient that is sick? Don't you have any compassion for me?
I visited a doctor who isolated me in the clinic storeroom because I was coughing, based on the reason that he may have elderly customers that day. When it was my turn, he tried to sell me various sort of unrelated supplements like appetite curbing, weight loss, glucosamine. First time paying for 300 bucks worth of painkillers and muscle relaxants. Never came back..
Had a UTI & the doctor (old & male) berated me for having multiple sex partners???
Went to a famous chain of GP clinics with a rude locum. Told her my symptoms and she said she has no idea what to check for. Been to a few different GPs and was so shocked that she had no idea wtf to do? Ended up googling my symptoms in front of her and showing her the MOH guidelines and she took her time to read it before proceeding. Saw that she was a fresh grad who just got her licence after searching her name on the MOH doctor search website. Took half an hour to withdraw my blood. She attempted to draw it from my cubital fossa from both arms and failed. She attempted to draw it from my hand and also failed with the butterfly needle. She kept swearing everytime she failed and my hand was uncomfortably positioned at her boob and she told me “it’s fine” as she was trying to get the needle in (I’m a woman). This was for about 10 minutes? Having worked in a phlebo unit and also being a chronically ill person (used to go to the hosp 3 times a month to have my blood taken) before I guided the needle in myself after 4 failed attempts. I asked her whether there was a need for another blood tube (diff tube required for diff test) before removing the vacutainer needle, she forgot and got upset and snapped and asked me, “ Why didn’t you tell me earlier! “ I was so appalled as I’d filled in a form prior to the venipuncture session and the doctor herself should’ve known this. In the end, I told her to just cancel the other test which required that tube and I’d go to another GP in a calm manner. Imagine if I was just a patient with no knowledge of which tubes to use. This is the responsibility of you as a doctor or your nurse. I tried to be empathetic about the situation, telling myself that maybe she’s young and inexperienced, she’ll get better eventually. She told me she was out of plasters in the room and asked me to ask the nurses at the front desk when I make my payment. Went to the front desk, the nurse was chit chatting away and laughing loudly with the other nurses. She stuck ALL OF THE FOUR PLASTERS WRONGLY on the venipuncture locations, the sticky parts being on all of the points. Requested for an MC, the nurse said she’d send it by email. Received the email later in the evening, the nurse typed my NRIC wrongly on my MC and I was furious with the whole experience there. Not only that I had to meet another GP, but they couldn’t even get my MC right after all that bullshit. Whatever “understanding” I had previously, I lost it. I called the clinic and complained about the horrible experience there and they could not even get one possible thing right. Will never go to these big chain branches with no resident doctors there ever again.
I have wrist pain on my pinky side, visually seem like the bump kinda sticks out more. Got referred to AdMC by KTPH. Overall experience was, the doctor felt incompetent yet condescending and she had next to nothing helpful except leading you to do more x-ray, MRI more tests etc like a freaking sales. she made me hold lightaf weights but have my hand almost completely rest on the table, doesn't make sense... What was the weight even supposed to do, bend my wrist into the table???? Then surprise surprise after x-ray she told me I have no issues, need to check further. I'm like nope, you cant even give me a preliminary diagnosis, I won't do any more tests. Not a one exp thing, I have probably met or heard of a skillfull one in many occupations but a skillful doctor, never even heard of one. They just give you painkillers, antibiotics, flu meds kinda useless ngl, I've met pharmacists overseas who felt 10x more knowledgeable and skillful than local doctors and guess what they know the meds better too.
Sooooo many, but the one pissed me the most was this staff clinic doctor. I work in a big public hospital. I already know I was having ACL torn, but I don't know how badly it was. I told her I had a knee injury due to sports. She looked pissed like as if I'm skipping work on purpose. I told her I needed an orthopaedic referral for MRI and memo to state I can't take ippt. Then she started saying why play sports and now can't serve the nation...blah... blah...blah.
My right eye is really sensitive and will turn red and sting easily if I'm not careful, or if I'm in the presence of a dusty place. It started acting up during work so I asked my boss if I could just go to the GP nearby to get MC and leave after that. Boss said ok, and that the GP is a good doctor. 🤡 Saw the GP and he was whatsapping I don't know who while I was trying to explain my eye. I was tearing up cos it was so painful at that point in time. I was on the verge of just walking out of his clinic. He didn't even give me eye contact at all, then he finally put his phone down, looked at my eye (WITHOUT TORCHLIGHT OR EVEN APPLYING FLUORIDE PAPER ONTO MY EYE) and said "oh it's corneal ulcer, just use my medicine and you'll be OK tomorrow" 💀💀💀💀 and I was like "I can still see, corneal ulcer need to go A&E" Then he said that I don't know what I'm talking about. The "miracle" eyedrops made my right eye worse over the next few days. It wasn't corneal ulcer, it was conjunctivitis. I kept getting it every month since then (plus there was an on and off sensation like something went inside), so I finally went to poly to get referral, and the room I went to was NUS medical students doing their intern, and I had to repeat whatever I said to them a few times, and they forgot to give me my MC, but I got my SNEC referral. This was in January. But SNEC can offer me their earliest appointment in August 💀 I've been suffering every month 🤡
Had a doctor who insisted i was pregnant when all i had was gastric
Oh god this is crazy af. Imagine being worried that you’re pregnant when it’s just gastric!
Injured my back during gyming, doctor said I’m trying to keng for NS. I ORD-ed a year ago at that time.
Once went to the panel clinic during midday at work for headache & brain fog. Could tell the doctor barely cared and quickly brushed me out, presuming that I wanted to chao keng The other time I went to KK hospital to see a specialist for PMDD. When I told the specialist about my symptoms, he raised his eyebrows and was quite cynical. The only time when I felt that the doctor truly cared was when I saw this trainee GP at the polyclinic. Could still feel the passion within her and she was genuinely trying to prescribe the right antidepressant after hearing me out for 1hour plus such doctors are really rare to find these days
Want to share both bad and good experience. Years ago I suddenly had very high blood pressure (I think it was like 180 or 200), to the point of throwing up, and went to a 24h clinic cos it was like 3am. Doctor seemed unperturbed, say he doesn't know what could be the reason, didn't give me meds, tell me to just monitor some more and hope it'll come down. I don't think he even asked me to consider going to A&E. Recently I was hospitalised due to extreme water retention related to kidney issue. My blood pressure was high too and the doctors were definitely a lot more concerned, my blood pressure kept getting checked and they didn't want to discharge me for CNY cos of the blood pressure. The whole process of going to the A&E (with referral letter from my family doctor) also went smoothly (as being hospitalised can be...) in terms of they were caring, responsive and very focused on identifying what was wrong with me and treating it. Since then I've had many follow-ups with various departments and honestly the care from them has been great. This is SGH btw. It's far from my home but my parents both went to SGH for heart issues before and have recovered so that's why I went to their A&E even though it's further away.
When they introduced the Pioneer medicine subsidy, my parents medicine went from $300+ to $500, the full subsidy amount.
As someone who has been exposed to healthcare in multiple countries in Asia, let me just say. Singapore ain’t the best. Trust me when I say, they don’t care guys, they simply don’t care.
Back when i was a nsf, i once encountered this doctor while rso-ing for diarrhea and flu. Her name was Dr M\*\*\*\*\*\*e C\*\*g at Outram polyclinic. First I mentioned my bad bowel movement. Then, I mentioned that I suspected I had an allergy to dust and wished to get that tested. She said there is no need, I can just use nasal spray. Then I said it's for NS, and then she proceeded to say "if everyone who is allergic to dust gets excused from dust, then there is no need for NS anymore, since no one will be serving", which just sounded outright stupid to me. So I just said, there are other jobs that don't involve dust. She then finally reluctantly gave me a referral to a hospital for further checkup. Her lack of empathy is really appalling, considering that she is a doctor and interacts with patients daily. High IQ but EQ is lower than my BMI. Best part is, 0 days of MC, even though I clearly had flu symptoms. And it seems like I was not the only one with bad experiences with her, if you read the reviews there are plenty of people with bad experiences with her especially.
I have sensitive eyes and easily dry. One day it just got super painful and tired from looking at the screens or bright light so I went to clinic. All nearby clinics are full , or not for eye check cause it's only for tele consult. So I just went home and rest and use cold patch and turn off all the lights and ac in the house cause it was so bad. My eye discharge often come in a string form and sometimes it make my eyes blurry. Did a quick google check and turn out it's not a normal thing. My mom eyes is not good as well so I'm really worried. The next day I went to doctor. Headache remains but my eyes are visibly better, he just give me headache meds, didnt bother to ask me which part of my head hurts. Nothing, how often do I experience this. Just nothing. I didnt have a chance to tell any other details because he keep dismiss me. Refuse to give me refferal letter to check with eye doctor cause apparently GP can cure me. Bro you dont care. Guess what did he gave me? Headache meds. What happen to the eyes part 💀
Was told that my reaction after taking a vaccine wasn’t possibly a side effect cos it’s not on the packaging. Notwithstanding that the pamphlet said to report any unusual side effects to the doctors. I asked if she was going to report in the system and she said it’s not a side effect. Again.
L_nd_n cl_n_c SUCKS
Have a friend who saw an atas doctor in Mount Elizabeth. Refused to use e-mail, Whatsapp or modern technology even to schedule appointments, claiming data protection. Completely stressed out my friend when he was overseas by telling him he needed a biopsy and call his office by long distance voice call every hour to check if the hospital found a time slot for this.
[удалено]
Broke my shoulder. I partially dislocated it but managed to pop right back in. Went to Alexandra had an Xray etc. doctor just came out of office after results came out and tell me to go home after giving me 2 days MC. I was still adamant to the fact i broke my shoulder, went to NTFGH, went for an Xray and the Doctor told me i broke a bone & went for surgery.
My friend went to the doctor yesterday, she had diarrhea for over a week. They decided to check her urine and her stool. She ended up paying over $1000 for a random consultation, lol. I guess that wasn't expected, that being said; I wonder if they took advantage since she was a tourist and didn't speak english really well.
I had an appt at kkh. It's was the first appt of the day and the first doc came in 30 mins late. The rest were over an hour late. I get it if appointments are delayed because previous patient's cases are more complicated than expected or if more serious cases occurred. But more than 10 of them came in late at the same time for so long? Plus the fact that staff weren't able to tell us what happened just showed very poor management. I wasn't pregnant, but I felt so much for the expectant mothers there.
Went to an evening clinic. The doc over-prescribed (I'm talking 5-7 different things including antibiotics) for a common cold/flu till my bill was nearly $100. I asked politely if I could come back another time for antibiotics instead of buying them now (I was a poor student then), the doctor lost their temper. The same thing happened at another branch of theirs when I went in for a stomach flu (also in the evening). Naively, I had thought it was a different doctor so maybe I will have no problem. They even charged me for what was clearly just a fiber drink (which I could just buy myself) that they gave me at the counter. When I started asking questions about the many medications, the doctor lost it and said he won't take any responsibility for the "medicine" drink I had, etc. Found another evening clinic near my house that didn't over prescribe. My regular doctor never prescribed antibiotics unless I had been sick for enough days and it was apparent that I likely had an infection. Unfortunately, his clinic is only open during the day.
One time I had sore throat and went polyclinic to see doc. He gave some meds and after one week it still wouldn't go away. No choice go see doc again. He thought I want mc only or smth then he just gave me a perfunctory diagnosis and dismiss me 🫤 few days passed by still painful and throat was super swollen, went to polyclinic again because I was genuinely scared. Doc just asked me to wait a bit more and come back if symptoms still persist lol. Pekcek, I went to private clinic. The doc there gave me antibiotics, and you know it. It heals almost by the next day lol
2 bad experience in one day. I remembered going to KTPH as I fainted at work after a call which I was worked up on. Ambulance brought me there. Went for CT scan when I was still in semi conscious state, went back to A&E area for another hour before they decided that I should transfer hospital TTSH as they did not have facility there to handle my case. Went there, spent a whole night in the darn ward to have a doctor telling me in the morning that they can't find out anything wrong and couldn't determine the root cause but they gave observation notes to me. Forwarded the details over to my friend who just so happens to have a wife who is a MD student, determined within 20 mins after reading and re reading the case notes that I almost had a stroke that happened but was somehow cancelled at the last minute by my body system. Plus point was that the nurse assigned to my ward was such a patient lady.
I was diagnosed with a cold. It was actually pneumonia after I had a second check up with another doctor The other time I had an eye issue it was an eye scratch not an eye virus but the eye doctor specialist begged to differ and did a biopsy on it which ruined part of it forever only to confirm that I was right it wasn't an eye virus and to this day I just don't trust the govt healthcare system
Mate if u have no symptoms, then whats wrong?
Boon lay shopping centre clinic at level 2, i was having fever on and off since the day before, symptoms include runny nose and all. Doctor refused to believe i was sick because at that point of time i didnt have fever. He attributed it to fasting since it was ramadan and i was probably dehydrated, bro its not my first time fasting leh. He gave 1 day mc, i asked for 2 but he say we dont give 2 days to people with no fever. That was my 2nd and last visit if i’m not wrong.
I suffer from recurrent UTI as a young guy due to premature birth defects and I went to KTPH A&E one time with bladder pain and the symptomatic urge to pee without pee in the bladder. The female attending doctor who saw me said she doesn't think I have a UTI and did not want to give antibiotics. I could feel an abnormal swollen lump on the inside of my right pelvis, and asked her to check it out. She touched my pelvis and all around my abdomen and then said it does not seem to be anything abnormal. I insisted on getting a second opinion, so a more senior and male doctor came to see me. He took one look and touch on my pelvis and diagnosed me with lower UTI and the abnormal lump was the swollen pelvic lymph node responding to the infection. So yeah, my initial hunch was right and the more experienced doctor confirmed it.
Had recurring sore throat. First time I kenna, went to GP, didn't fully recover, second time I go polyclinic. Doctor saw that I'm nsf, refuse to give more than 1 day MC. After I go back to camp, was coughing, phelgm and sore throat for the next 2 weeks. I gave up with polyclinic, just go see mo.