We thank Mr Tan Pin Ho for his feedback and we are sorry about his experience with the ambulance services used (Hefty bill for five-minute ambulance trip within hospital grounds, Jan 11).

Mr Tan, who was accompanied by his daughter, sought dental treatment at the National Dental Centre Singapore on Dec 29 last year. The planned dental procedure went well.

However, he started to develop symptoms of breathlessness, elevated blood pressure and heart rate while resting in the waiting area. Our care team attended to Mr Tan immediately and stabilised his condition in the treatment room.

To ensure that he was well and there were no other issues of concern, the care team assessed that it would be best for Mr Tan to be conveyed to Singapore General Hospital's A&E (accident and emergency) department for further management.

We sought consent from him and his daughter before we proceeded with the transfer, and an ambulance service was arranged.

As Mr Tan's condition had stabilised, a non-emergency private ambulance was called. We acknowledge that Mr Tan could have been conveyed through the hospital's medical transport service instead. We will look into our procedures to improve our patient conveyance process.

We thank Mr Tan for the opportunity to clarify the matter. Our patient experience team is in touch with him to address his concerns.

Geoffrey Gui
Chief operating officer
National Dental Centre Singapore

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-hospitals-own-medical-transport-service-should-have-been-used