Ministry urges bosses to accept MCs from any doctor

07 Jul 2011, The Straits Times

Simple ways to cut polyclinic queues

I refer to Health Minister Gan Kim Yong's plan to review the health-care sector as a whole ('Health-care review to take some time: Gan'; Monday).

Beyond the fundamental and structural changes that he promised to bring about, there are other seemingly prosaic but important changes that need to be made.

One of the most important relates to the overcrowding and long waiting times at polyclinics.
Presently, only patients referred by polyclinics for tertiary level care in hospitals enjoy the maximum subsidy, whereas patients referred by general practitioners (GPs) get lower or no subsidies.

Medical colleagues I know who work in polyclinics constantly complain of attending to patients needlessly referred to them by GPs, just so the patients can enjoy larger subsidies. Polyclinic doctors thus have less time to perform other more pressing duties.
Many workers are also forced to visit government clinics as some employers refuse to recognise medical certificates (MCs) issued by GPs. This bumps up the patient load at government polyclinics and accident and emergency departments.

These and other similar human issues can be easily and quickly rectified while we await the redressing of brick and mortar or manpower issues that will bring benefits only in the distant future.

Dr Yik Keng Yeong

Reply From  MOH

In his letter ('Simple ways to cut polyclinic queues'; June 29), Dr Yik Keng Yeong felt that the queues at polyclinics are long because patients go there to get referred for subsidised treatment in hospitals, and because employers recognise medical certificates (MCs) issued only by government clinics.

Our polyclinics play an important gatekeeping role by allowing our doctors to assess if patients should be seen at our specialist outpatient clinics or continue to be treated at primary care level. This allows us to better target specialist resources and subsidies for patients with the clinical need.

Over the years, polyclinics have taken steps to cut waiting times through an appointment system and increasing use of nurses and other health-care professionals where appropriate.

Polyclinics have also leveraged on technology, for example, tele-radiology and tele-retinal photography where patients get their reports on the same day.

Other than going through the polyclinics, general practitioner clinics under the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS) may also refer PCPS patients for subsidised treatment at hospital specialist outpatient clinics.

The ministry has progressively expanded PCPS and will continue to review it to make affordable primary care even more accessible to the public and further streamline the referral process to subsidised specialist care.

Under the Employment Act, employers can choose to accept MCs issued by private doctors. The civil service has already taken the lead by recognising MCs from any registered doctor, and we encourage other employers to do so as well.

Karen Tan (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
Ministry of Health