MR TAN Guan Seng spent most of his hospitalisation at the
high-dependency and intensive-care units during his two-month stay
at the National University Hospital.
His hospitalisation charges were originally pegged at the
subsidised rate as our admission office staff had overlooked that
it was a work-related injury. We apologised to him for this.
When Mr Tan's wife made a request to upgrade him to a private
ward, the hospital's staff informed her that the estimated bill
would exceed the quantum to be borne by Mr Tan's employer under the
Work Injury Compensation Act.
Under the Act, Mr Tan's employer is liable to pay medical
expenses for up to one year from the date of the accident, subject
to a cap of $25,000.
However, hospitals are given the discretion to downgrade
patients admitted for work-related injuries and who have financial
difficulties to subsidised status, if they meet the criteria after
a financial assessment.
We empathise with Mr Tan's situation. In our bid to assist him,
we advised him to undergo a financial assessment to confirm if he
could qualify for higher subsidies for his medical expenses. Mr Tan
did not take up the offer.
He was also advised to check with his employer if his medical
expenses could be covered under the company's insurance policy.
In September, Mr Tan appealed for a waiver of the outstanding
amount through his MP. We considered his appeal and explained that
as he was appropriately charged for the treatment provided, we
could not accede to his request.
As he did not take up our earlier offers for financial
assessment, we were unable to explore other forms of
assistance.
In consideration of his appeal, we offered Mr Tan an instalment
plan to settle the outstanding amount. The offer was rejected by Mr
Tan.
Joy Wong (Mrs)
Director, Patient Relations
National University Hospital
certainly no joy in Joy's reply.
