LETTER | Dear Honourable Minister: I am writing to you about a matter which needs your intervention in order for change to come about; urgently-needed change to solve the problem of queueing times in clinics and hospitals.
I’m of an age where my friends and I need to see doctors often. Health and matters related to health management are regular topics of conversation when we gather and this includes the subject of queueing to see doctors. Talking about it is often enough to get our blood pressures rising.
Whether you’re seeing a doctor in the public or private sector, waiting times are the norm because we all want the same experts. Even with an appointment, queueing times can stretch as long as three hours or more with doctors who are in great demand. This is easy to verify.
So, we have a situation where a particular doctor has established a reputation as a must-see healer on the one hand, and patients who are desperate for what is believed to be the best that medical care can offer on the other. This same doctor has seen his queue grow longer over the years, and to the patient, the ever-lengthening queue reinforces his need to wait in line.
With this scenario, what is the doctor’s motivation to do something about the comfort of his long-suffering patients? None. I don’t yet know of a doctor who is bothered enough to look for a solution.
Many of the unwell have medical conditions which make them unfit to wait long hours but they are captive customers. The doctor I want to see is the doctor I need to see is the doctor I must see.
Perhaps the longer the queue, the greater the doctor’s fame? It’s time we appeal to them to please have a heart. This terrible situation can be managed and we don’t have to add to the suffering of the sick.
How? Google “queue management” and you will find various software solutions on offer. The system installed in the doctor’s computer enables patients to make and check appointments online and inform them of updated waiting times by SMS. A simple solution which allows me to wait long hours in the comfort of my own home rather than in crowded hospital lounges with a hundred other miserable-looking folks.
However, I don’t believe this will happen by itself, even if the doctors with three-hour queues have the time to read this letter. We need the Ministry of Health to draw up a plan to instil the motivation in them.
As the doctors already make heaps of money, financial incentives are not the way to go. Perhaps some sort of a windfall tax for doctors with long waiting lines and no queueing system?
Please, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, we need your help.
