If you remember, there was a big hoo-hah because 3 anaesthetists were on leave at the same time and there was no one to cover one single daycare list on Friday afternoon, 02 June 2000. Some even suggested that there were in fact 4 anaesthetists on leave because Dr. Alan Wong was also on leave which was why we couldn't get anyone to cover the above mentioned list.
There are normally 2 open lists (1 neuro/vascular/spinal open list and 1 daycare list) and 4 fixed surgeon lists (Dr. Tan H.M., Dr. Abd. Haron, Dr. Siti and Dr. Delaila) on Fridays.
Of the 4 fixed surgeon lists, three surgeons (Dr. Abd. Haron, Dr. Siti and Dr. Delaila) had opened their lists.
Therefore, the number of open lists on that day was in fact 2 - 1 + 3 = 4. In other words, the number of open lists had doubled from 2 to 4.
Furthermore, as the next day was the Agung's Birthday, many of the other surgeons were also on leave (about 13, I believe).
In spite of this, Ms. Irene Quah, in her infinite wisdom chose to kick up a big fuss about the lack of coverage for that one single daycare list.
As it turned out, there was hardly any work on that Friday
afternoon and one other list had to be closed.
Anaesthetist | Surgeon | Procedure |
Chan | J Tan HG | Tonsillectomy |
Tan PH | Govindan | Laparoscopy Cholecystectomy |
E Peter | Fissure-in-ano | |
Radha Krishna | Siti | Frozen ET |
Ngun KW | Tan HM | TURP |
Tan HM | URS | |
Mary | Abd. Haron | No cases |
Bachan S | Daycare | Closed |
The hospital has had to close its OT's and wards at various times in the past due to too many nurses being on leave at one time and also in anticipation of a fall in workload due to the fact that many doctors including surgeons may have gone on leave at the same time. This had generally occurred during long holiday periods where many staff were on leave and patients often preferred not to have their surgeries then, as well.
Particulars | From | To |
Ward Closure | 25 Jan 1998 | 02 Feb 1998 |
Ward Closure | 06 Jan 2000 | 12 Jan 2000 |
OT Closure | 03 Feb 2000 | 09 Feb 2000 |
While the closures mentioned above might have resulted in a loss of income to those anaesthetists who were not on leave, never at any time did the anaesthetists (nor any other consultants, as far as I am aware) complain that the hospital should not close the wards or operating theatres. We all understood that,
If you have other documents or information to support our view, perhaps similar to the evidence in the section above, I would most appreciate it if you could pass it over to me.