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Yes I Went
By Peace | April 22, 2007
Professionalism is knowing how to do it, when to do it, and doing it. ~ Frank Tyger
In my opinion, Professionalism is applying your knowledge to do what is best for your customers/clients/patients/students, always placing the interests of the clients in the first place, being ethical and honest at all time.
Yesterday I went to the polyclinic. It was very very crowded. The queues were very very long. I almost gave up. For two days, I don’t feel pain. However, on Saturday morning when I woke up, I feel pain again. The pain radiates to my back. It was undurable and made me feel tired too.
These are two pictures I had taken while waiting outside the clinic. The door is ‘different’ from the rest of the rooms. There is a potted plant as well. The chairs also look different from the rest of the chairs outside the other rooms.
The polyclinic has changed a lot since my last visit. However the most recent Polyclinic that I visited was Bukit Batok Polyclinic. The same concept happen at Woodlands Polyclinic. Upon entering the polyclinic, there were people queuing up to take queues number for registration to see doctor. There was a lady nurse who was standing at the registration kiosk and appointment kiosk. Their main job is to assist people who are not sure what to do. She is very helpful indeed and friendly. I think the trip to the clinic on Saturday, she is the most remarkable person leave a good ‘aftertaste’ after the visit to the polyclinic.
Waiting to be registered was very very boring. My tummy was groaning with grinding with hunger. There was a mini cafe there but it was very lousy. The food sucks. I felt like eating black fried carrot cake, but all they sold there was buns, and some ‘stale-looking’ fried food, which did not attract my attention to remember what they really displayed out there for sale. There wasn’t Horlicks too. So in the end I never ate anything.
I looked up and saw the display “waiting time to see a doctor is 1 hr 6 minutes”. I waited almost for an hour then it was turn to be registered. After registration, my husband and I proceed to the second floor to see doctor. We were allocated to see a doctor at the Family Physician Clinic. This is something new to Polyclinic. It is indeed special and the area outside the Clinic is ‘beautifully’ decorated, as compared to the rest of the rooms. I was curious to know who the doctor was. I sat there and I got a chance to ‘peek’ at the doctor when someone enter or get out of the doctor room. It was a female malay doctor.
I almost waited another one hour to see the doctor. It was such a disappointment. It was no difference to any other doctor. Many doctors or those that I encounter were very impatient and they were not willing to LISTEN to you. I merely wanted to tell them a brief medical history of myself, but you know what she said? Tell me about NOW! I had not stepped into the clinic for centuries and this is my first time visiting her! According to my experience, doctors always want to know patient’s medical history. That is why it is always good to stick to a doctor as they would know your medical history better.
I used to visit one doctor at Woodlands, but after a few attempts, he is getting impatient and like this Malay doctor, not willing to listen to patients now, so I do not want to visit this doctor anymore. In the beginning when the place is new and his patients are not a lot, he is soft-spoken, courteous and patient. As years past and his clinic is having more patients, he is getting more impatient, and lack listening ears as well. This kind of doctor are merely ‘earning for a living’ and not ‘treating patients’ with professionalism. They charged you based on long or short consultation. Sometimes we wait one hour or more just to see the doctor, but they could not even afford to give us 5 minutes of time. After a few minutes we will be asked to go out — ok that’s finished. You can go and collect medicines etc etc. That is easy earn money for them. They are so seasoned and so used to earning this kind of fast money that they have lost any conscience to really treat patients with their real expertise if any. Based on my experience ( I used to accompany my mother to the doctors too and I worked in hospital before, and that is why I can see the types of doctors), most doctors lacked listening ears. And generally the GP (general practioners) only know best in prescribing flu, cough, fever medicine and painkillers. Any other thing, they are not God, they are just like anybody else, they do not know what exactly you are going through. Unlike majority of people, they have a piece or two of special paper which they spend six years or more to obtain it. So they have the knowledge of all medicines and illness. But practical and theory is two different things and so many illness have similar symptoms. And there are people who came in just to ‘seek’ for Medical Certificate.
But whatever it is, in any profession, money is not the main issue. It is the lives of people they are dealing with. Everything is talking about transparency now, but when doctor is concerned, the fees and charges is always increasing, and that is the service we get. We are paying for what? At the end of it, we don’t feel good and we are already ill. How they derive at the payment? The polyclinic is standard $8 and pharmacy and any other test is additional. This is reasonable. But does that mean that the doctor can just ‘quickly’ finish their work so that they can have a short weekend to work and can knock off early?
Though the private sector provides a more convenient service, in the sense that there is no such long queues and going from departments to departments, there is no transparency in their fees. They never provide a break down of how our final bills. There should be at least a health report or chit given to us every time we see them, giving us tips on how we can take care of our health and explanation of our symptoms and so on. However, most doctors do not dare to commit when it comes to advising patients. They are not willing utter more about what you are going through. What they merely could give is painkillers, flu, cough, fever medicines…all the common medicines. Any other thing they just refer you to specialist. And at the specialist some more stories… I will deal with that again in another future post.
Back to the Malay doctor, she is very impatient, refusing to listen too much. So at appropriate time I will tell her about my history still. Then she will say things like…oh…things like that. Initially she told me that what I am going through is all due to stress. When I never even tell her that I am stressful. Later I tell her that about my visit to Tan Tock Seng Hospital before and some more of my past history and then she finally say its better to see a specialist. Can you imagine if I listen to her, just tell her what is wrong me now, don’t say about the past, then I would be experiencing all the pain due to STRESS and that is the end of my consultation.
What sort of nice name and newspaper advertisement you have got for Family Physician Clinic, and all nice words mentioned in newspaper about how good Family Physician is and how beautifully and special it was decorated as compared to the rest of the rooms; the treatment and service of the doctor is no different from any other doctor! Our main visit to the doctor is not to have exterior beauty but for treating our ‘pain’. It ‘pains’ our heart to know that our money is spent on this ‘kind’ of SERVICE, the so-called respectable and reputable doctor whom people admired for their honourable profession. But how many disgraceful news we read about doctors in the newspaper also?
Anyway, there are more to it, after that, I was referred to do a blood test, a simple one, and she was as usual always in a hurried mode to settle everything fast, and quickly ‘get rid’ of the patient faster. My son was trying out on the weighing machine and was got told off, and my husband slapped him for it. What wrong had he done? A child who wanted to know his weight? What kind of doctor? Did she offer to help the boy? Can you imagine a boy who wanted to know his weight and got told off and slapped as a result? This is absurd.
At the polyclinic, after I left Room 30 and then proceed to level one for blood test, my daughter followed me into the room. The similar weighing machine was there in the room. This time my son waited outside. My daughter saw the weighing machine, stood on it and she weighed herself, while I was talking to the nurse. Did she spoil the machine? What is the purpose of a weighing machine? Did the weighing machine in the doctor room cost more money or did the machine mean to be only an ornamental? My daughter told me her weight was 26kg! My son? That was a bad experience he had at the clinic and what a doctor is! Everything is ‘cock up’ at the clinic there. The doctor never sent my case file down even. The nurse had to call her twice to get everything settled! And I just ‘wasted’ another half an hour waiting and doing treatment at the nursing room.
After the blood test at the nursing room, I had to proceed to the appointment counter, back at the second level again. Waiting again. This time waiting for queues in front, and waiting for the case file to be sent up again. When it was our turn to be called, payment was made there as there was no medication. The nurse will call us up again to tell us a day for appointment at the specialist clinic. Imagine I spent a total of three and a half hours to four hours at the Polyclinic and all bad experiences.
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