Raising of A&E Fees Blamed On Abuse By People. True Reason behind It.

[Kohliantye]

Every now and then when A&E Fees at all hospitals are raised the reason given is overcrowding and simple abuse of such facility by Singaporeans.

The same is given for the use of the Emergency ambulance. Blame it on Singaporeans too......

They (the Honourable Government) blame us (the original 3.8 million Singaporeans) for this BUT they conveniently forget the sudden rise in population which makes the A&E rather busy. The same apply to the use of the Emergency ambulance service. Hospitals are simply catered for that number of Singaporeans (3.8 mil as a good example).

Our hospitals and it's A&E Departments were built to cater to an X number of population. The population increased over these few years so drastically with so many foreigners here who seek treatment at all hospitals with A&E facilities.

Why blame us when the influx is created by the "newcomers"?

What happens when the population reaches the 6.9 million mark?

The true reason is that the hospital's A&E SIMPLY CANNOT cater to the many new "patients" or rise in people.

You go to any hospital and you will see Pinoys, Chinese and Indian FTs and their families there even for a common cold. Why blame us?

This is just an excuse to raise the fees, isn't it?

The Govt in power may think that Singaporeans are mere SIMPLETONS not knowing the true reason behind such massive "crowding" at hospitals so they raise the A&E charges by putting the blame on us for abusing such a service.

The car-parks of such hospitals collect huge revenue, even on Sundays. The private contractor running the car-park service is a silent benefactor after sharing it with the GOVT (or hospitals directly). What a good way to make money? You may even wonder who these private contractors maybe?....

At the end of the day, all Singaporeans are SCREWED for NO FAULT of theirs.

The A&E charges today is $95, EXCLUDING Medications, X-rays, etc...

Will the Honourable Ministry of Health shed some light on these!!!!!!!!. We are all BLIND or FOOLs, is it?

 

[Leongsam]

At the end of the day, all Singaporeans are SCREWED for NO FAULT of theirs.

If you have the misfortune of ending up at an A&E in OZ or NZ, you'll be wishing you were back in Singapore.

When I broke my ankle a few years ago, I got to the A&E at Middlemore Hospital at 7 PM. I was not attended to till 5:30 AM the next day.

Count your blessings. You don't know how lucky you are being a Singaporean till you are stuck in some other God foresaken place where PAP efficiency does not exist.

 

[eatshitndie]

same with california. wish all er's and a&e's start charging visitors and patients for just showing up at the door. go to any public or state-funded emergency wards and you'll find hordes of illegal immigrants, folks without medical insurance and just plain abusers of the healthcare system crowding the halls and waiting areas. unless you have been shot or oozing buckets of blood, you'll be asked to wait for hours after the triage nurse is willing to see you. many of these folks go there for minor ailments, fever and cold because they can't get medical help anywhere else without insurance coverage except aids clinics and the county prison, and u.s. and state policies forbid er's and a&e's from shooing these folks away. so they wait, and wait. it has become a game of patience so much so that hospital staff are "trained" to take it slow and drag the kabuki theatrics. ultimately, taxpayers pay the bills of these deadbeats who don't pay a single cent at all for lack of coverage. their only price is lost time.

 

[winnipegjets]

same with california. wish all er's and a&e's start charging visitors and patients for just showing up at the door. go to any public or state-funded emergency wards and you'll find hordes of illegal immigrants, folks without medical insurance and just plain abusers of the healthcare system crowding the halls and waiting areas.

If you have private insurance, you can choose to avoid those hospitals. You call those folks abusers? What would you like them to do? Die in front of your house?
If health insurance is affordable, I am sure those folks would buy it. And it is not like hospitals give these uninsured people top-notch care ...they will be rush out as soon as their condition is stabilized.

And you had better save lots to incase you land up like one of these folks in the report below. Also, expect to pay more as your Republican buddies slash medicare for seniors
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/#ixzz2MabsFVcv

 

[eatshitndie]

If you have private insurance, you can choose to avoid those hospitals. You call those folks abusers? What would you like them to do? Die in front of your house?

if it's a minor emergency where there's luxury of time and self-transportation, i would avoid these hospitals and go to private ones. for many who truly need it, such as injured from accidents, victims from a shootout or drive-by shooting, survivors from a disaster, they have little to no choice but the closest ambulances would bring them to. the er's and a&e are originally created and designed for these legit cases, not abusers who camp out there hoping for medical treatment for flu, allergies, fever, nausea, and diarrhea.

alternatively, there are limited numbers of county clinics they can go to where services are mostly free (state funded) and insurance coverage not required. best kept secret in california. but these abusers would not go there as they deem "hospitals" are more tok kong than clinics where they perceive only aids patients and drug addicts hang out. even among those without insurance, they are choosy arseholes.

 

[lianbeng]

lianbeng said: yalah! serves all right lah! boh tai boh chee anyhow call ambulance lah! backside pain also go to A&E make them so busy! go pangsai lah!

 

[rodent2005]

Count your blessings. You don't know how lucky you are being a Singaporean till you are stuck in some other God foresaken place where PAP efficiency does not exist.

This has nothing to do with PAP efficiency. If SIngaporeans decide to awarm the A&E, there is nothing the PAP can do about it. The point is Singaporeans have never abused the A&E but got blamed for it. The PAP must attribute to the correct culprit i.e. sudden explosion in population. Don't tell me the sudden explosion in population has nothing to do with it?

 

[Debonerman]

TS had obviously forgotten what it was like 20 years ago when the fee was $25. And the crowd......With children who were there for "emergency" treatment for fever half a degree higher than normal, running around playing while the parents sat doing nothing but indulgently and proudly smiling......

 

[watchman8]

If you have the misfortune of ending up at an A&E in OZ or NZ, you'll be wishing you were back in Singapore.

When I broke my ankle a few years ago, I got to the A&E at Middlemore Hospital at 7 PM. I was not attended to till 5:30 AM the next day.

Count your blessings. You don't know how lucky you are being a Singaporean till you are stuck in some other God foresaken place where PAP efficiency does not exist.

Have you personally tried Singapore A&E in past few years? I got personal experience where there was only one senior doctor and a few housemen for entire major hospital in Singapore. My friend was in severe pain for six hours and the housemen could only give pain killers as all are too junior to do anything else. My friend had to wait until the next morning for the regular doctors to attend to his injuries.

Singapore is a small island with five million people concentrated together, yet the local hospitals are still inadequate to handle the flood of cases due sudden influx of foreigners. Oz and NZ are big countries with populations spread over much larger areas. You know the logic.

 

[zhihau]

truth be told, folks need to be educated on basic human anatomy and basic ailments. do folks actually understand where accidents and emergencies are corncerned, A&E is rightfully meant for life threatening cases, folks in risks of setting into shock due to heavy loss of blood and in need of immediate transfusion, heart arrests, etc...

 

[escher]

And they expect us to believe HOTA in Sinkapore is for the sinkaporeans

FUCK OFF

I donate all my organs if in another country

In Sinkapore, I want the worms to eat all of me, or fire to consume all of me so none of me go on to enrich the fucking regime here

 

[saratogas]

To control the number... Increase price! Make foreigners pay 2 times more, PRs 1.5 times!

 

[HTOLAS]

I'm not against the idea of charging for non-emergency cases arriving at A&E. And yes, there have been abuses - someone brought a teenaged child to KKH A&E because she had a fishbone in her throat! But I also believe that if a case turns out to be a real emergency, that payment should be refunded.

But there are also often no alternatives to A&E at night and during PHs. All the talk about night clinics at public hospitals have been just that, talk. A few years back, I came down with dengue that was not serious enough for me to be warded but still required daily blood tests to determine which way my blood count was headed. The problem was that the labs were closed during the weekends and so, my GP won't test me then. He told me to go to A&E which was the only place with access to a functioning blood lab outside of a ward.

I was unhappy about it and actually asked to be warded - I could then also get insurance payouts. Unfortunately, my GP said I was too well to be warded.

 

[kopiuncle]

Singaporeans need to be educated on simple heathcare and to learn to treat simple ailments instead of rushing to the AE at the slightest inconvenience. There is a rampant abuse at the AE department, over-loading the services provided and contributing to long waiting time. How many emergencies are there? How many sick people who attended the AE are really urgently sick patients who needed immediate attention? Go and have a look for yourself. The majority are " well" and sitting happily at the waiting room.Many could have been treated and managed at the GP level. Or even treated at home.

Some companies are really nasty. My friend works in a construction company. If he is sick, he can only get an MC from the AE Hospital. So, even for minor problems, he has to go to any AE and wait for hours just to get some medications and an MC!!!!! This sort of management should be singled out and chided. Why are OPDs so crowded? Some companies also adopt the same policy.If you fall sick, you want an MC, go to the OPD or to the AE. No MC from GPs will be recognised!!!

Recently I had a friend who collapsed at home. He was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and the whole process was almost faultlessly executed. The ambulance arrived at his home within 10 mins.Set a drip for him in the ambulance and took his blood sample for sugar level. He was wheeled into the emergency room where everything was done with military precision. Blood tests, xrays,ECGs and even a CT Scan were all done seamlessly. It was a one smooth journey from home to the AE!

How could you fault such a system. It is almost perfect and my friend was admitted for two days for further observation. He was discharged a very grateful man, fully satisfied with the medical services provided. He used his Medisave and his own Private Insurance to pay for his hospital stay.

Singapore indeed has one of the best healthcare services in the world. You only appreciate this if you have personally gone through it.

 

[kopiuncle]

I'm not against the idea of charging for non-emergency cases arriving at A&E. And yes, there have been abuses - someone brought a teenaged child to KKH A&E because she had a fishbone in her throat! But I also believe that if a case turns out to be a real emergency, that payment should be refunded.....

Please do not display your ignorance here. A fish bone in the throat IS an emergency!!!

I got it once when I was taking my Teochew muay with steamed fish. It was very painful and I could not get it out. I went to see my GP friend who tried but failed to extract that small piece of fish. I had no choice but to go to the AE in SGH. An ENT registrar had to come down and did a good job for me. Thank you.

If you are keen, you can go and read about Singapore's FISH BONE SYNDROME. There are many documented cases where the fish bone was lodged in the throat, got infected and patients died from infection. There was even a case documented where the fish bone got lodged and created an abscess. The infection spread and formed a connection to the big artery in the neck. Patient started coughing blood. The surgeon went in trying to dislodge and locate the fish bone. When he tried to clear the abscess, he was met with a gush of blood!!! Patient collapsed on the operating table. The fish bone had created an infection tunnel to the big artery....and that was like a water hydrant when the surgeon tried to probe deeper.

So fish bone in the throat is an emergency. Thank you....

 

[leetahbar]

our beloved oldman and his entire familee and leegime is the biggest abuser.

he could even flag an entire SIA plane when the situation arise. how's that for abuse?

 

[HTOLAS]

Sir, you may be right about other instances of fishbones being stuck in the throat. But I'm very familiar with the case I was talking about and can tell you in no uncertain terms that it was NOT an emergency. The bone in question (if there was one) was tiny and the child felt no pain, just a little discomfort. At the very least, it could have waited till the next day.

The doctor at A&E found no fishbone and by the time she was seen, she didn't even feel the discomfort anymore.

I appreciate your efforts to clarify but do avoid being unpleasant.

Please do not display your ignorance here. A fish bone in the throat IS an emergency!!!

I got it once when I was taking my Teochew muay with steamed fish. It was very painful and I could not get it out. I went to see my GP friend who tried but failed to extract that small piece of fish. I had no choice but to go to the AE in SGH. An ENT registrar had to come down and did a good job for me. Thank you.

If you are keen, you can go and read about Singapore's FISH BONE SYNDROME. There are many documented cases where the fish bone was lodged in the throat, got infected and patients died from infection. There was even a case documented where the fish bone got lodged and created an abscess. The infection spread and formed a connection to the big artery in the neck. Patient started coughing blood. The surgeon went in trying to dislodge and locate the fish bone. When he tried to clear the abscess, he was met with a gush of blood!!! Patient collapsed on the operating table. The fish bone had created an infection tunnel to the big artery....and that was like a water hydrant when the surgeon tried to probe deeper.

So fish bone in the throat is an emergency. Thank you....

 

[kopiuncle]

Sir, you may be right about other instances of fishbones being stuck in the throat. But I'm very familiar with the case I was talking about and can tell you in no uncertain terms that it was NOT an emergency. The bone in question (if there was one) was tiny and the child felt no pain, just a little discomfort. At the very least, it could have waited till the next day.

The doctor at A&E found no fishbone and by the time she was seen, she didn't even feel the discomfort anymore.

I appreciate your efforts to clarify but do avoid being unpleasant.

okay, you wrote like an M O at the AE. points taken....

an ordinary patient would not know whether it is an "urgent" emergency. fish bones in the throat to me are "emergencies"....

it should be probed and removed as soon as possible. if you wait for a day or two, the fish bone might get embedded and " disappeared" from sight...and what happened is the formation of an abscess or in the worst scenario, a " fistula"...to the carotid artery...and that's the end of another patient. something which can be prevented and avoided. a little inconvenience to the AE doctor no doubt, but a life can be salvaged ..and saved.

 

[congo9]

Leongsam like to compare the worst with Singapore and tell Singaporean that we have the best.

Anyway, if Singapore is so good. Try coming back to Singapore.

 

[nitecrawllerr]

When I broke my ankle a few years ago, I got to the A&E at Middlemore Hospital at 7 PM. I was not attended to till 5:30 AM the next day.

Sam, u remind me of some neighbouring friends of mine. Praising PAP sky high. Telling me how lucky Sporeans are. Good hospitals, airport, housing, medical, etc etc etc. But they refuse to take up Spore pink ic when i asked them to.