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Fine-tune appointment system at polyclinic

I refer to the letter, “Woodlands Polyclinic waiting time could’ve been managed better” (May 9). Tampines Polyclinic just underwent a renovation and, along with it, a revamp of its patient-handling. The switchover to an appointment-based system, however, was terrible.

I refer to the letter, “Woodlands Polyclinic waiting time could’ve been managed better” (May 9). Tampines Polyclinic just underwent a renovation and, along with it, a revamp of its patient-handling. The switchover to an appointment-based system, however, was terrible.

I had wanted to collect my medication and, not knowing about the new system, took two hours off from work, as it would normally have taken slightly over an hour.

With the new system, however, I was considered a walk-in and waited for close to three hours before I saw the doctor, made my next appointment and collected my medications. Luckily, I was not sick or in pain.

My mother, who had a doctor’s appointment, went to the polyclinic early for her 9am appointment.

The doctor required her to take an ad-hoc blood test, however, so she had to join the laboratory queue as a walk-in and stay at the polyclinic until nearly 2pm. My diabetic mother sat there waiting, even delaying her lunch.

It seems the appointment system is not working out well for the polyclinic. And if patients in earlier slots take more time, others might end up waiting past their appointed time to see a doctor.

Ironically, those with an appointment are there for a follow-up and do not usually need medical attention as urgently as do walk-in patients who have fallen sick. The polytechnic should stop the appointment system until it can be fine-tuned.

The alternative is a dual-system whereby walk-in patients join the walk-in queue and those who come for appointments can join the appointment queue.

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