Webcams Queue Watch to help patients manage their waiting times at polyclinics

14 Sep 2007

Patients to polyclinics can now plan their visits better and manage their waiting time by checking out the latest queue and waiting time information on the eCitizen’s Health and Environment Town at http://he.ecitizen.gov.sg

At their convenience, patients can visit the portal to check out which are the busiest polyclinics, as the attendance volumes and typical waiting times for registration and consultation at each polyclinic are updated on a monthly basis. This will help them choose a polyclinic which is not so crowded or where waiting times are relatively shorter (see sample at Annex A).

For patients on follow-up visits, they are advised to keep to their given appointment slots. Patients who come for immunisation are also encouraged to make prior appointments. This will help to minimize waiting times for all.

Patients will see that in July 07, there were a total of 337,720 attendances at the polyclinics. The heaviest patient attendances were seen at Ang Mo Kio (29,019) and Jurong (26,101), while some of the shortest waiting times were found at Queenstown (Registration 2 minutes, Consultation 27 minutes), and Bukit Merah Polyclinics (Registration 12 minutes, Consultation 20 minutes). 

In July 07, most polyclinics were able to achieve median registration waiting times (i.e. the waiting time to register a patient on his arrival) that fall within 10 minutes, and median consult waiting times (i.e. the waiting time to see a doctor after registration) that fall between 20 to 40 minutes.

In addition, patients can also find out, in real time, how many people are in the queues at the registration, consultation and pharmacy waiting areas from the webcam queue watch. There are also time charts to let patients know the peak and non-peak periods at each polyclinic. Patients may then choose to avoid the busiest times in visiting a particular polyclinic and save on waiting time (see samples at Annexes B and C ).

They can also get tips that the peak periods are generally Mondays, weekday mornings and Saturdays, and use this information to plan their polyclinic visits better.

This initiative is a collaboration between MOH and the two polyclinics groups - Singhealth Polyclinics and NHG Polyclinics. 

The web addresses and direct weblinks can be located at:

Waiting Times and Attendances for the Latest Month:

Home > Get Healthcare > Medical Specialities and Services > Attendances and Waiting Times at Polyclinics

http://he.ecitizen.gov.sg/hecorp/healthcare.aspx?id=644

Real-time Webcam Images of Waiting Areas and Queue Information:

Home > Get Healthcare > Medical Specialities and Services > Queue Watch

http://he.ecitizen.gov.sg/hecorp/qwatch.aspx

• See sample at Annex A (0.98 MB) 
  

• See samples at Annexes B and C (0.98 MB)