This is what one patient
told me when he visited recently
at the grounds of TTSH
The brain scan that he requested costs (after
bargaining) $660/-
If he is referred there by a Poly Clinic, the cost
is $120.00
If you are a multimillionaire and drives a Merc to the
poly clinic and get the doctor to refer you, it is
$120/-
If you walk in yourself or referred there by a private
clinic it is (in his case) $660 even if you are earning $1000 a
month.
Does anyone know why it is
like that, the rationale behind it?
I just want to inform the
people here the situation, in case you want to get subsidies but
have no idea how the weird policies work.
The specialist clinics at the government hospitals are very busy
and hence it will discourage anyone to simply walk in and demand to
be seen by the specialists.
So, the polyclinic is used to assess and filter whether the
patient is really in need of specialist's care.
However, the system is not perfect. Currently, subsidized
patients need to wait at least 3-4 months and for some it can be as
long as 9 months before they get to see the specialists even if
they got the referral letter from the polyclinic.
Patients without subsidy ie pay full fee as private patients can
usually get to see the specialists on the same day or within a
week.
It is also ironical that the more senior doctors will spend more
of their time to see the private patients instead of subsidized
patients.
Similarly, a subsidised patient who needs a surgery will be
operated by a surgeon who has just completed the specialist
training while a private or full-fee paying patient will get the
very experienced and senior surgeon or even the head surgeon to do
the surgery.
It is so ironical that the doctors get their experience on
subsidised patients but when the doctors become experienced,
these senior doctors and surgeons will spend most of
their time treating private or full-fee paying patients.