Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:
With the high costs of medical treatment in Singapore and the joke
of a medical coverage, one wonder is it a choice of choosing to
die, or not having the financial means to have treatment?
The biggest joke is that despite Singapore's aim to be a medical
hub, it is actually behind countries like Thailand. Any visitors to
Bangkok's private hospitals HAVE to admit they administer better
treatments, better service, a better environment at less than half
the price.
No MRI on weekends, blame it on 'bad luck'
MY FATHER, Ang Teong Hui, was admitted recently to Changi General
Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a mild stroke. However, his
condition deteriorated and he fell into a coma on the same
day.
The doctors did various tests on him and took scans of his brain
where they eventually found the cause of his deteriorating
condition.
However, the last scan - an MRI - was done a day after he was
admitted, after the doctors felt that he might not pull through and
needed the scan urgently.
When asked why the scan was not done earlier, the doctor replied
that it was bad luck on my father's part as MRI scans were not done
on weekends.
After my father was transferred out of the intensive-care unit to a
normal ward, we asked one of the nurses why such a piece of
state-of-the-art equipment was not used on weekends.
The nurse replied that it was unfair to recall the doctors just to
do the scan because weekends were supposed to be their rest
days.
Well, if it was unfair for the doctors to work on weekends, was it
fair for my father to be denied treatment on a weekend, especially
when the situation was so crucial?
My father died on Oct 8, aged 53, and there is nothing my family
and I can do to bring him back. But I would like to make it known
to Changi General Hospital and the relevant government departments
that attitudes such as those mentioned above were incorrect.
Ang Yu Ying (Ms)
The Straits Times
Oct 29, 2004
Eh, I just realised BigMouthJoe, all the articles you posted can
be found on my webpage, but with one big difference... my webpage
has the REPLY. 
Anyway, once again, it's quite interesting to read the reply.
MRIs available round the clock at hospital
I REFER to the letter, 'No MRI on weekends, blame it on 'bad luck'
(ST, Oct 29), by Ms Ang Yu Ying. Our deepest condolences go to Ms
Ang's family for the loss of her father, Mr Ang Teong Hui.
We have since contacted Ms Ang's elder sister - Ms Ang Yu Ying is
away from Singapore - to address their concerns.
Mr Ang was admitted to Changi General Hospital (CGH) on Sept 25, a
Saturday. Based on his symptoms and pre-existing medical
conditions, he was diagnosed to have suffered a stroke. The
neurologist-on-call immediately started anti-coagulation treatment
to manage his condition.
Mr Ang was managed by a neurologist throughout his stay. He had two
CT scans done on an urgent basis on his admission which confirmed
the stroke. CT scans are used as a first line to confirm if a
stroke has occurred.
An urgent MRI scan was also done on Sunday to
confirm the clinical diagnosis of a brain-stem stroke.
As Mr Ang had already been diagnosed with a stroke, his treatment
would not have changed with the CT and MRI findings.
We apologise to Ms Ang and her family if our doctor had
miscommunicated that MRIs are not available on weekends. We agree
that all our staff should communicate to patients professionally
and with empathy.
CT scans and MRIs are available at anytime, including weekends and
public holidays. Our radiologists and radiographers are on call 24
hours a day to attend to urgent requests. We would like to assure
the public that no one will be denied essential services at
CGH.
We thank Ms Ang for the opportunity to clarify her concerns. If
further clarification is needed, please call Ms Lim Puay Keng on
6850-2732.
T. K. Udairam
Chief Executive Officer
Changi General Hospital
Nov 3, 2004
Anyone interested in seeing the replies to the rest of the
letters he posted can see my website.
http://www.geraldtan.com/medaffairs/forum-two_sides.html
I'm not siding with either the patient or the hospital - I'm just
saying that every letter needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
