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In an independent Patient Satisfaction
Survey commissioned by the Ministry of Health on 8,200 polyclinic
patients*, 7 in 10 respondents found that polyclinics delivered value
for money on the overall service quality and facilities. |
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Performance however varied among the
polyclinics. |
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Key Findings |
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Over 67 per cent of the respondents
rated the overall polyclinic experience to be above their
expectations. 71 per cent said they would recommend to their
friends to seek treatment at polyclinics. |
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On the positive aspects, the survey
showed that the public generally found polyclinics doctors to be
professional, caring and friendly. |
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Other areas they were satisfied with
included |
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(a) the friendliness and helpfulness
of nurses who were caring; |
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(b) good services by the doctors who
gave clear explanations; and |
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(c) the physical environment at
polyclinics. |
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Please refer to ANNEX A for the
detailed findings. |
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The survey also highlighted the areas
where patients would like to see further service improvements. |
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Topping the list of desired
improvement measures were |
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(a) shorter waiting times to see the
doctor, and |
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(b) faster turnaround time for
doctor-patient consultation. |
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Polyclinics Attendances and Waiting
Times |
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Polyclinics saw a total of 317,755
attendances in Nov 06. |
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The heaviest patient attendances were
seen at Ang Mo Kio (27,041) and Jurong (24,275), more than double
the volumes seen at polyclinics such as Queenstown (9,345), Marine
Parade (10,393) and Outram Polyclinics (10,550) - the lowest in
attendances among polyclinics. Please see ANNEX B. |
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Among the 317,755 attendances, 103,884
were acute cases (33%), 154,236 were chronic cases (48%) and
59,635 were **non-morbid cases (19%). |
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Some polyclinics see a heavier load of
chronic cases, which require longer consult time by the doctor for
case review, follow-up and patient education. |
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The polyclinics where chronic patients
made up 60% and more of attendances were Bukit Merah (60%),
Geylang (60%), Marine Parade (63%), Queenstown (63%) and Outram
(69%). |
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In a separate survey of waiting times
(Jul-Sep 06), 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. Please see
details at ANNEX C. |
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Key improvements |
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Over the years, polyclinics have tried
to improve on their services. More doctors have been deployed to
meet rising patient load. We have now reduced the average patient
load to 58 per doctor per day, a vast improvement from the past. |
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Based on the feedback from the survey,
polyclinics will continue to enhance the work flow and processes.
Some key measures in the pipeline include: |
- Using information technology
such as tele-radiology, e-lab ordering and e-prescription to
speed up the consultation process and reduce waiting time for
test results.
- Upgrading of clinics to bring
about greater patient comfort. Most clinics are now
air-conditioned, where feasible. Clinic chairs are progressively
replaced by elderly- friendly ones.
- Improving the appointment system
and priority queues for the frail elderly and infants to reduce
their waiting time; including extending the appointment system
to lab and x-ray services.
- Have pre-registration counter
staff identify families with infants and the frail elderly to
assist these groups of patients early so as to reduce their
waiting time at the polyclinics.
- Putting up "peak" and "off-peak"
time's signages so that patients are kept informed of the
anticipated waiting period.
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To minimise patients' waiting time, we
would like to advise patients to avoid, if possible, peak periods
i.e. the early mornings. |
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Chronic care patients on follow-up,
who form the majority of polyclinic patients, are advised to keep
to their given appointment slots. Non-morbid patients who come for
immunisation are encouraged to make prior appointments. |
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Footnotes:
*
A total of 8,200 patients were interviewed from May to
August 2006. Patients were first interviewed at the polyclinics
while they were waiting for their consultation. This was
subsequently followed up by a telephone interview. The survey was
carried out by an independent survey firm.
**
Non-morbid attendances refer to cases such as
immunisation or health screening.
***
Geylang Polyclinic had the longest median waiting times
for both registration (26 min) and consultation (58 min).
Clementi Polyclinic has the shortest median wait time for
registration (1 min) while Pasir Ris and Sengkang Polyclinics had
the shortest median consult waiting times (21 min). |
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More..... (Annexes) |
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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg Press Release
30 Dec 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Fri 5 January 2007
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