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Beggar Got No Choice
By Money Sick | September 23, 2007
Do You Deserve Better Treatment?
Time vs Money
Clara went to a private neighbourhood doctor’s clinic and we pay a total of S$34 for doctor’s consultation and medicine. If we go to the polyclinic, perhaps, we pay less than $10 for everything or perhaps about $12-$15, depending on the cost of the medicine. I would rather bring her to the private clinic than to the polyclinic. How do I make such decision? For going to the polyclinic, I need to take public transport. At the polyclinic, I need to wait about 3-4 hours to get to see a doctor. The fastest, if not so crowded, would perhaps be in about 1-2 hours based on my past experience. At the private neighbourhood doctor’s clinic, I do not need to wait more than 30minutes. For a difference of perhaps $20, I save time — I can save up to 4 hours. What can I do in four hours? I can do a lot of things. If I am lucky, I can get a post of $50 or $500, and I am earning back the money. However, I am never such lucky. Never before. Not even the $777 or $77 opportunities at PayPerPost. But I will be happy if I have a post of $10, if not $8.50. Recently, there was a number of $7 posts at PayPerPost. I would need to write at least 5 posts to earn back this amount of money. However, this time round, I was lucky that the amount was able to be claimed at the school, under the insurance scheme — since everything started soon after Jun Yi had hit Clara on her nose bridge. So I got to held him responsible.
How much is your time worth
For 4 hours, I can write at least 2 posts, I can cook a meal for my children and I can sweep the floor or do some laundry. If I spent 4 hours at the polyclinic, I am not going to be productive. I can only read book or observe people, which is a waste of my time. How can I afford to waste such time when I have so many things to do?
Richard at Polyclinic
On Saturday, after bringing the kids for Catechism class, Richard went to the polyclinic to have his eyes checked. He had sore eyes since last Monday. After taking some chinese medication and also putting eye drops, his eyes were not improving.
China People Greed for Money
Richard went to the polyclinic first. I went to the bicycle shop to get my bicycle repaired. At the bicycle shop, I was fed up with the China man. I told him my rear bicycle tyre burst and a change of tyre. I supposed he could not understand what I say or he just did not listen to what people are talking. He told me to pump air myself. I told him a second time, this time, everything in Chinese, and that with greater assertion — “I want to have the tyre changed.” He started working immediately. At first, he suggested changing both the inner and the outer tyre. I told him that I had just changed the outer tyre not long ago and I pointed to him that he can see the difference between the front and the back tyre. Later, I asked him again, “So still need to be changed” He said “Don’t need”. Can you imagine, this is just what some people, especially China people, like this, who want to earn more money — For the ignorant and obliging, they would have given him the money.
Sick People Everywhere
As soon as I had finished with my bicycle, I went to the polyclinic. I was so turned off by the huge crowds. Everywhere people! All sitting, all walking around, all waiting for their queue numbers to be called. From one station, you got to move to the next station. And the worst is when it came to Richard’s turn, it was not a thorough examination at all. In less than one minute, as soon as we step into the room, we were out of the room. This is so ridiculous.
Any Standard Operating Procedure and Guidelines?
Asked what’s wrong with him, and Richard replied about his sore eyes. Next the doctor start scribbling and writing. He never examined Richard’s eyes AT ALL. Never even touch Richard AT ALL. Richard said,”He even hardly looked at me.” The doctor, Chan Kok Sun, does not look like a doctor at all, if you are walking on the road and you see him. He just looked so ordinary, like an uncle, perhaps with big tummy for his size. He is not thin nor fit. All I can say is he does not look professional, neither is what he did show that he had done anything to show that he is one. Asked and write. This is what he did ONLY. He asked “The eyes can see?” Richard answered “Yes”. For the next minute, we are out of the room, wondering what the doctor had done, and what we had been done to Richard’s eyes. No advice, no checking, nothing at all! How ridiculous. What if inside the eyes were some cysts or other things which cause the redness? This is where some doctors are just so negligent in their duties. Why should they care so much? For their age, they can get a pay every month, that suffice.
Rigid System “Rigid” Robotic People
At the pharmacy, long queues again. Queuing up to get medicine and later queuing up to pay again. So ridiculous — you cannot pay upon receiving medicines! You have to queue up again to make payment. Can you imagine very sick patients, having to go through all these? What sort of ridiculous systems!
At the pharmacy, again the service is damn lousy. The staff might be tired or seem ‘monotonous’ or ‘immune’ to their daily duties. To me, they are sick of their daily ‘chore’, having to serve so many patients. They cannot be bothered to talk much. They cannot be bothered to smile. They cannot be bothered to care much. All they can only do is to GIVE you what you need, according to the doctor’s scribbling. Richard was given ointment, eye drop and antibiotics. He was surprised to get ointment. He did not know what that was. He turned to me and asked, “What is this? How to use?” I answered, “The person is just right in front of you. You should ask him.” The sickening man who looked in his 40s, did not even want to elaborate further. No precise instructions was given to Richard, a person who do not know anything about medicines. Just as I was getting infuriated, he asked the pharmacist. He never explained how to put ointment. He took out a pamplet, “Follow the instruction” and handed over the pamplet to Richard. How sure is he that Richard is literate? My mother is illiterate. She always need to go Polyclinic. I just hate to imagine she would be treated like this!
Productivity, Efficiency and Good Health for the whole nation?
After getting the medicine, Richard had to go queue up at the payment queue some more — long queue. Though there were a few payment counters, the queue was not short. There were several pharmacists, but many people are waiting to be served.
You must be crazy to love it
Richard told me that he hate to come here, the Polyclinic when he was working. That includes me. Nobody like to go Polyclinic. You can upgrade all the external and have a beautiful facade and all the interior, but the service is what is more important. The polyclinic sucks! If I can always have a choice, I would never want to go Polyclinic!
Can you afford other alternative Healthcare?
If you have money, you would not have to risk your life in these people’s hands. If you have money, you would have gone to the private clinic, to have better service and more dedicated healthcare treatment. If you are loaded, you can have specialists doctors to attend to you. If you have no money, you can waste money or squander your money with expensive healthcare. But if you have no money and you do not want to squander your hard earned money and you would rather save money, and your time is not worth much, then you can visit the polyclinic, a place where you get the staff whom get their pay whether a not they had done their job well. If they had made a mistakes, it is all cover up. For them, they are always right. For them, when you die of septicemia, it is not because the doctors have done something wrong or the operating teams of people. It is your body’s luck. It is your body who cannot adapt to changes and your body have weak immunity.
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