Number of complaints against doctors holds steady

The number of complaints against doctors last year held steady from the previous year, despite the rise in number of practitioners.

The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) received 172 complaints in 2013, one fewer than in 2012 — a marginal decrease in number of complaints per 1,000 doctors from 15.9 to 15.7.

The bulk of complaints was about the quality of services not being of the quality that had been expected, which was also the case in 2012.

A total of 352 cases were considered last year, the SMC stated in its 2013 annual report, released yesterday on its website. These included unresolved complaints made in previous years. Of the 352 cases, 14 were referred for disciplinary inquiries. Of the remainder, 10 doctors were issued letters of warning, 54 were issued letters of advice, one was referred for mediation, three were withdrawn, 106 were dismissed and 164 were adjourned to this year.

The number of doctors increased to 11,433 last year, a 7.2 per cent rise from 2012. In his foreword, SMC president Tan Ser Kiat noted the increase in number of Singaporeans trained abroad who returned to work here — 121 of them did so last year, about 18 per cent more than the 102 in 2012.

There were 4,124 specialists here, with statistics over the past five years showing the biggest percentage growth in renal medicine, rheumatology and geriatric medicine specialists. NEO CHAI CHIN