Ministry of Health Difficult to make an appointment at polyclinic
I faced the following problem in making an appointment to visit the polyclinic. Here is my feedback.

I went to the website and was asked to download the Health Hub app. OK, I did that.

I was asked to select the institution. When it came to the polyclinic, I had to choose between Sing Health and National Health Group. I wanted to go to Ang Mo Kio polyclinic, but did not know which group it belongs to.

Surely, they could have just listed all the polyclinics, instead of expecting the patient to know this additional detail? Never mind, it is not a big issue. 

I have to give a lot of details, even though they are already available in the app. Why give this additional trouble?

I have to choose the doctor. I could not find any eye doctor. So, I had to submit a request for an appointment with the eye doctor in the app.

I received a call one or two days later. I could not recognize the number 63533000, but I received the call anyway. It was from the call center. The officer told me that I have to call this number on the day of the appointment. They do not accept advanced booking. 

What is the purpose of having a booking system that do not accept advanced booking? Does the ministry of health know that the patient has to apply leave to visit the polyclinic? Do they have to waste the patient's time by making them wait the whole day?

I called 63533000 on the day of the appointment. It went to a "terrible call center". I had to press many buttons and wait several minutes for an staff to become available.

One of the question was - do you wish to make a medical appointment? What is the point of this question? What other type of appointments are there? Why can't they handle all appointments without segregating the type?

I manage to get through after waiting for a few minutes. I spoke to the officer and booked an appointment later in the morning.

I asked the staff why I was not able to book to see an eye doctor using the Health Hub app. She said that they do not have an eye doctor, so I had to book for a consultation. 

All right, I wasted quite some time. It is not only me. I think many patients would have wasted their time using this complicated booking system.

Minster Gan - I hope you are listening. Please stop wasting the time of your citizens. Find a better way to handle the booking, OK?

Tan Kin Lian



I hope that our planners in the Ministry of Health are able to plan from the perspective of the customers.

 

Add Comment

---