What a day

Isaac was advised to go for an op to remove a lump near his eyebrow bone on 7th July, 8am. We went there as scheduled and at 7.45am, dr came in and thought us that CT scan was not booked (crazy if we need ct scan before op, isn't it silly to book the op and not the scan?). We have to wait til 9.30 for the scan and 12 for the op. Isaac was already so hungry. He was without food for the past 6 hrs already and imagine waiting for another 4 hrs. Anyways lost all trust in the dr and I simply cant trust my baby in the hands of this stupid dr. So I told desmond that we should cancel the op. I complained to the medical director that night...here is the letter:

Attention: Professor XX Tan, Medical Director
and
Mr XX Lim, General Manager

Re: Feedback on bad medical service rendered by Dr Ng XX

Having given birth to my son at Raffles Hospital 19 months ago, I had always been very impressed with the high level of quality healthcare and service your hospital provides. However, this one incident that happened this morning, greatly shaken my confidence in going to Raffles Hospital for any of my healthcare needs ever again.
My son, Isaac was scheduled to have a CT scan as well as an operation to remove a lump on his left eyebrow bone (diagnosis was external angular dermatoid) today, 7th Jul 08, at 8am by Dr Ng XX. However, we were informed by Dr Ng at about 7.45am that CT scan was not booked and we had to reschedule the scan as well as the operation. My husband and I were very appalled at the how unprofessional he was in handling the matter (no explanation whatsoever given and left us standing in the cold - my baby had gone without food for hours and my husband came back to Singapore especially for this op) and decided to cancel the operation as we had lost all trust in this doctor. Please see below for culmination of events leading to loss of trust. We are requesting that the hospital investigates into this matter and provides us with an explanation.
Here’s the background to the issue:
I was recommended by Dr Tan XX from Children’s Centre to Dr Ng XX after discovering a lump near the eyebrow bone of my son. Dr Ng has been monitoring the growth for a few months and recently he observed (visually, it was not even measured, apart from the first consultation) that the growth increased in size. During the consultation sessions I had with him, Dr Ng gave a very ‘bo chup’ attitude and many a times my questions were met with one liner answers. Although I was uncomfortable and not happy with his answers, I trusted his medical advice since he is the expert in this field.
When Dr Ng recommended surgery for my son, I told him I needed to check with my husband who was based overseas. I was told to inform his nurse, SXXXy, at Surgery Centre if we decided to go ahead. I called SXXXy few days later informing our decision to go ahead. I asked her if the doctor needed any pre op procedures to assess extent of growth. SXXXy checked with Dr Ng and said that there was no need for any blood test, scans or xray prior to the op. “Just go to level 8 at 6am on the day of the op will do, no need to do anything before that” - that was her exact words to me.
Feeling uneasy and very uncomfortable about the lack of information, I asked my husband to email Dr Ng on 20 June 08 enquiring about the op procedures again. He replied on 21 June 08 and informed us that there will be a CT scan before the op. As this was not previously conveyed to us, we proceed to ask him further questions in the email which he did not answer. Please see email below. He did not reply despite us sending another email to him on 4 Jul 08. We decided to go ahead with the op despite not having heard from him since we had already scheduled it with the hospital.
There are two aspects which we wish to highlight:

1. Slipshod hospital procedures

Did Dr Ng inform SXXXy that there should be a CT scan? If yes, why was it not communicated to us? If a CT scan is needed before the op, why was it not scheduled by the hospital?

2. Lack of professionalism
The way Dr Ng handles patients greatly needs improvement. As patients, we trust the doctor’s professional advice and rely on their expertise for us to make informed choices. Information about the surgery was definitely missing and his attitude leaves much to be desired. Even though he is a sessional consultant with your hospital, does it also mean that he gives only half the effort in treating patients?
This episode greatly challenged your hospital’s commitment to uphold quality and I question your service commitment of “To Our Patients Our Best” My family and I had lost all trust in Raffles Hospital and I hesitate to make any recommendations to anyone I know who needs healthcare. If you need any clarifications or further information, I will be very glad to provide you with lots. You can contact me at xxxx or xxxx@hotmail.com

Sincerely,