It’s been 3 years since we last conducted a patient satisfactory survey. When we last conducted the survey in 2023, the overwhelming negative feedback was the waiting time you guys have to wait beyond your appointment time. We endeavour since then to introduce measures so that Dr Khoo can run on time most of the time. Our books for new patients remain essentially closed so that Dr Khoo can spend more time with less patients.
Other measures introduced then include limiting the consults to only 2 issues to be discussed. If you have more than 2 problems, we suggested that patients make a longer consultation to allow time for the many items. However, it was difficult to police the restrictions and hence, sometimes patients have to wait because the last patient took “forever”. In your defence though, the practice of medicine has become more bureaucratic with paperwork and legal compliance taking a lot of our time. We have to endeavour to cover every angle and provide all sorts of information for something patients may deem “simple”. The medical litigation bandwagon is certainly running strong. That takes up at least 50% of our time during and after the consultations.
We would to thank all the patients who were kind enough to give us their honest opinion for the survey. In the 2026 survey, once again, some of you have raised the issue of waiting times. It remains an issue although the numbers appear to be fewer this time around. Maybe we are getting better? Maybe we are surveying only our favourite patients? We will continue to work on this area.
The full report of the survey is available here.