18 Feb 2010
GOING by what you read, the diagnosis on doctors can't be good.
It appears doctors are being taken to task by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) too often.
That picture isn't entirely correct, said SMC.
Sure, there are recalcitrant medical professionals who have been disciplined more than once.
But there has been a substantial drop in the number of complaints to SMC last year.
It's the first time in three years that the figure has fallen. It fell 30 per cent, from 138 complaints in 2008 to 96 in 2009.
So what caused the drop?
An SMC spokesman said that it's normal for the number of complaints to fluctuate.
The hospitals, though, have a clue. They said they have been pro-active in garnering feedback and tackling the problems head-on.
Take a recent case involving the National University Hospital (NUH). Kenneth's (not his real name) condition had deteriorated suddenly and his siblings blamed those around them.
The most obvious targets were the doctors treating their brother. They also blamed the hospital.
Kenneth's sister, Mary (not her real name), wrote an e-mail to query the hospital.
Why was the deterioration "so aggressive" and why wasn't more done for their loved one? They insisted it was medical mismanagement.
At the time of the e-mail, the patient's condition was so bad, he could no longer communicate with anyone.
Kenneth died last month.
Because of patient confidentiality, NUH couldn't provide more details.
The NUH patient relations team then organised a family conference which the patient's key medical team attended.
It made all the difference.
Despite the death, a family member wrote to the doctor-in-charge to thank him for trying his best.
Fewer complaints
It appears hospitals are increasingly applying such pre-emptive moves to tackle potential problems.
Hence, many of those complaints don't get escalated to the SMC.
In fact, some hospitals The New Paper spoke to said compliments outstrip complaints. Avenues for feedback also capture patients who are grateful for the care they received.
Take Singapore General Hospital's (SGH) strategy.
Four years ago, SGH introduced a system of calling patients after their discharge to see how they are coping. This was also done to obtain feedback.
Ms Isabel Yong, director of service quality at SGH, said that besides calling patients, the hospital also gets feedback via forms, e-mails and letters.
"In addition, we hold regular quarterly patient feedback lunches chaired by our chief operating officer where all our key department heads are present to hear first-hand where lapses are and how things can be improved," said Ms Yong.
Where there are complaints, the issues are studied and solutions developed to prevent them from happening again, she added.
It's not just happening at the restructured hospitals.
Parkway Health, which runs Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles and East Shore hospitals, recently introduced an initiative where an annual survey is carried out by an independent consultancy that specialises in customer satisfaction.
"We publish our findings annually through our in-house publication. Parkway was one of the first private healthcare players in Singapore to publish such comprehensive data," said a Parkway spokesman.
However, Parkway declined to talk about how they deal with complaints.
Human touch
Beyond the feedback initiatives, hospitals say they focus on the human and humane touch.
Patients and their families know that many things are beyond the doctors' control. What they want is to be treated with dignity and kindness.
Take the NUH case.
The hospital showed us the letter Kenneth's family had written after his death. In it, they wrote:
"Dear Dr Tan....during the meeting, we realised that you had a warm friendship with him over the years ever since he became your patient...you called to find out about Kenneth's condition even after he left NUH for the hospice.
"Though it looked like a hopeless situation, you gave great comfort to the family by visiting Kenneth often at his bed.
"We are grateful that you went beyond your call of duty. Sometimes doctors become life-giving to others in despair and grief. You made the difference."
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