62691017
305 #01-91 Woodlands Street 31 Singapore 730305
Google Review Replies
In the past we always reply to our Google reviews. However we stopped monitoring and replying after sometime because Google refused to remove some replies which we told them were outright lies and defamatory. There was also a maximum word limit imposed which we felt was not sufficient. We will try to reply here if we have the time.
Hafizah Hanafi wrote in April 2024,
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After waiting for over an hour, I was instructed to return later because my kids were making noise. I can see why the doctor needs some quiet time to focus, but he also needs to know how a toddler can stay still and remain quiet for longer than five minutes. I advise the doctor to remodel his clinic so that the walls are soundproof. Dr. and patient will both benefit from this.
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Our reply on 22.2.2024:
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Safety of every patient is our number one priority. We are not allowed to make a single mistake which may have serious consequences for the patient and the clinic. Our doctor is getting old , has many years of experience and needs quiet to be at the peak of his performance.He is semi retired and makes no sense to renovate the clinic in a major way as you suggested. It is impossible to meet the needs of 100 percent of our patients. Most of our patients are retired and not financially well off. Our boundary only seek the cooperation of patients to keep their volume down to a level where they cannot be heard through a closed door.
We asked your 7 year old child to come back one hour later, as there was a long waiting queue before your turn, as in a similar situation 2 months ago. We thought it would be a better use of your time instead of sitting inside the clinic.
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On 9.5.2024 1am, Angelina Low wrote on :
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AVOID!!! READ ALL THE OTHER REVIEWS. Worst doctor ever, try at your own RISK! Dr Mark Low anyhow prescribed my elderly mother antibiotics for her giddiness. When I went to confront him, he said there can be a few causes to giddiness such as ear infection or urinary tract infection. I asked if my mom was having either he said he’s not sure. So his general prescription is to give antibiotics for giddiness?!! WHAT THE HELL. Especially when my mom just completed a two week antibiotics just last month!! I even questioned the doctor, is it take antibiotics like health supplements?! Evil and annoying doctor I don’t know how he even got his license! Gonna lodge a formal complaint against him, just you wait.
Reply
Our reply on 12.5.24:
A lady came into the clinic and loudly asked about 3 issues regarding her mother who attended our clinic earlier that day. The first two issues were false information given to her by her 68 year old mother. The lady said that ‘it is normal’, as that her mother is “always telling lies.”
As we could not confirm that she is the daughter of the patient, because she was not present when the patient attended our clinic in the afternoon, our doctor tried to be as vague as possible when giving her confidential medical information. The patient had other relevant symptoms, signs and past history and which we did not reveal.
The lady said that last month the patient had already taken antibiotics at another clinic. She said that it is wrong to give her mother antibiotics again after so short a period. The doctor then asked her if she felt that we did something wrong by giving her mother antibiotics. She replied that it is not our fault as we would not have known that patient was given antibiotics previously. The doctor comfirmed that he was not aware that her mother took antibiotics recently, as it was given by another clinic.
The conversation then went as follow:
Doctor: “Your mother has symptom B.” (Symptom B is a very vague symptom which can be present in many illnesses.) The causes of Symptom B are Diagnosis C………… (The doctor was going to continue with a list of causes)
Lady: (interrupted in a fierce and loud manner) “Did you check for Diagnosis C!”
(The doctor was taken aback and did not reply her. He then continued with the list).
Doctor: “It can also be due to Diagnosis D.”
Lady: (interrupted again) “Did you check for Diagnosis D!”
(The doctor did not reply to her and did not say anything. He was merely giving a list).
(The lady asked if she could tape further conversation by audio into her handphone. The doctor replied no. She then said OKAY, then she will document into her handphone. )
She said that she had written into her handphone as follows:
" Symptom B will give antibiotics".
“Symptom B, may be Diagnosis C, and it can be Diagnosis D, but you did not check for Diagnosis C and did not check for Diagnosis D, and you gave antibiotics.”
When she had asked, “Did you check for diagnosis C?” and “Did you check for diagnosis D?” the doctor had not said anything. Therefore, the doctor did not say that he did or did not check for Diagnosis C or Diagnosis D. He was merely giving her a list of differential diagnosis, when she interrupted him twice. She was putting words into the doctor’s mouth when she wrote “did not check for C and did not check for D”. The doctor kept quiet due to confidentiality, it was difficult to explain as she kept interrupting and he felt she was bullying him because she believed he did something wrong, when he did not.
She was also assumed that we gave antibiotics for Diagnosis C or Diagnosis D. We never gave her the patient’s diagnosis, but only a nonspecific symptom, partly due to confidential reason. We did not say we gave antibiotics for Diagnosis C or Diagnosis D. It was her own words again.
The doctor told her that he wished to stop as he felt threatened, and she was shouting. She said that she already apologized earlier to the nurse, at the counter, for shouting. She told us that she has an anger management issue and already seeking professional help.
We DID examine the patient for the condition for which she was given medication for, but it is confidential.
On 16.5.2024 Angelina Low wrote:
Update: Shocked to know a doctor can tell such blatant lies. What anger mgmt what professional help. What rubbish. Since when did I shout or apologize. The clinic was quiet all I did was enter and said hello? Like hello, anyone there? Then the nurse at counter jumped. So I politely said sorry did i scare you? Shakes head. This doctor really CMI and unethical. Please see all other reviews - cannot be so many people wrong only you correct. Kindly reflect. WORST CLINIC in SG. SMC should investigate I will get them to investigate this doctor for the sake of the elderly living in Marsiling.
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12.5.24:
A lady came into the clinic and loudly asked about 3 issues regarding her mother who attended our clinic earlier that day. The first two issues were false information given to her by her 68 year old mother. The lady said that ‘it is normal’, as that her mother is “always telling lies.”
As we could not confirm that she is the daughter of the patient, because she was not present when the patient attended our clinic in the afternoon, our doctor tried to be as vague as possible when giving her confidential medical information. The patient had other relevant symptoms, signs and past history and which we did not reveal.
The lady said that last month the patient had already taken antibiotics at another clinic. She said that it is wrong to give her mother antibiotics again after so short a period. The doctor then asked her if she felt that we did something wrong by giving her mother antibiotics. She replied that it is not our fault as we would not have known that patient was given antibiotics previously. The doctor comfirmed that he was not aware that her mother took antibiotics recently, as it was given by another clinic.
The conversation then went as follow:
Doctor: “Your mother has symptom B.” (Symptom B is a very vague symptom which can be present in many illnesses.) The causes of Symptom B are Diagnosis C………… (The doctor was going to continue with a list of causes)
Lady: (interrupted in a fierce and loud manner) “Did you check for Diagnosis C!”
(The doctor was taken aback and did not reply her. He then continued with the list).
Doctor: “It can also be due to Diagnosis D.”
Lady: (interrupted again) “Did you check for Diagnosis D!”
(The doctor did not reply to her and did not say anything. He was merely giving a list).
(The lady asked if she could tape further conversation by audio into her handphone. The doctor replied no. She then said OKAY, then she will document into her handphone. )
She said that she had written into her handphone as follows:
" Symptom B will give antibiotics".
“Symptom B, may be Diagnosis C, and it can be Diagnosis D, but you did not check for Diagnosis C and did not check for Diagnosis D, and you gave antibiotics.”
When she had asked, “Did you check for diagnosis C?” and “Did you check for diagnosis D?” the doctor had not said anything. Therefore, the doctor did not say that he did or did not check for Diagnosis C or Diagnosis D. He was merely giving her a list of differential diagnosis, when she interrupted him twice. She was putting words into the doctor’s mouth when she wrote “did not check for C and did not check for D”. The doctor kept quiet due to confidentiality, it was difficult to explain as she kept interrupting and he felt she was bullying him because she believed he did something wrong, when he did not.
She was also assumed that we gave antibiotics for Diagnosis C or Diagnosis D. We never gave her the patient’s diagnosis, but only a nonspecific symptom, partly due to confidential reason. We did not say we gave antibiotics for Diagnosis C or Diagnosis D. It was her own words again.
The doctor told her that he wished to stop as he felt threatened, and she was shouting. She said that she already apologized earlier to the nurse, at the counter, for shouting. She told us that she has an anger management issue and already seeking professional help.
We DID examine the patient for the condition for which she was given medication for, but it is confidential.
22.5.2024
We apologize if there was any misunderstanding. We were trying to convey that we felt anger directed at us in a polite and brief manner. We now need to expland further.
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​At the waiting room, the lady was speaking loudly into her handphone:
Lady: "………….Uncle, can you come and fetch me as I am very angry now. I don't think I can drive. Just now I nearly crashed........"
" .......I am here to verify my mother's diagnosis ………..and if mother is lying, I am not going to take care of her anymore......"
It seems that she was in an angry mood and it was based on false information.
2. Inside the consultation room, the doctor told the lady her that her anger was affecting us. He told her that he could hear her shouting at the nurse outside through the closed door of the consultation room. She said that she was aware that she was in an angry mood. She said that she was feeling stressed that day running here and there, she is travelling the next day, and she still has not even taken her breakfast.
Doctor: ‘So you are very stressed.’
Lady: ‘Yes, a bit stressed with this type of mother.”
Doctor: ‘Are you angry with us?’
Lady: ‘No’
(She said that she is already seeing a counsellor to anger management already.)
Doctor: ‘So you went to see psychologist?’
Lady: ‘No, it is a counsellor. It is normal to be angry and everybody gets angry now and then. Nowadays is it normal to see a counsellor for anger."
She told us she has anger management issues and seeing a counsellor.
​3. Later:
Doctor:” I do not want to continue with this conversation. You are shouting and you are threatening me.”
Lady: “No I am not.”
Doctor: “You are shouting at me now and you shouted at us when you just came in.’
Lady: ‘It is the place is too quiet that causes the volume to be very loud. I did apologise to the lady in front for shocking her.”
As the meaning of "shocking' is ambiguous, we interpreted that she apologized for ‘shocking’ the clinic assistant with her loud volume and anger. We are grateful for her clarification.
5. The patient has since attended our clinic again for another condition. She said that during her previous visit she had recovered completely the next day. She was happy with our treatment that day.
6. We do not project lies as we are not hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, and the clinic assistant is a witness.
On 29.1.2024 Munah Shaik wrote:
Horrible experience! I arrived almost at 9am and only got to see him at 11.09am! He asked me without looking at me what was wrong. Told him my eye is swollen. Without looking at my eye he went on to ask other questions like “are you stressed? Do you always get angry? Do you cry a lot? Are you going to get a divorce?” I’m like??! How is this relevant?! Only after did he shine a light in my eye to check my eye but only for a brief moment cos he wasn’t gentle with my eye and it hurt. He didn’t try to check again and prescribed my meds. I would have just left the clinic but after waiting for 2 hours, I just needed to get the meds and leave! Never again will I come back here for a consult!
Our reply:
We thank the patient for taking her precious time in logging in and writing the review. Such reviews help us identify our weaknesses and improve our service.
From our clinical records, the patient was registered at 9.47 am and was seen by the doctor at 11.10am. The clinic was crowded as it was a Monday morning. The patient waited for about one hour.
The patient attended our clinic for some eye problem and the doctor had to type in the history into the computer system. All doctors are trained to get a full history first, before going on to a physical examination. Therefore we do not examine the eye until a full history is taken. The patient was already seen by another clinic and given some eye medication, which did not help. The patient was advised to go to the A and E if it was associated with another symptom.
The doctor examined the eye for 1 second only and the patient complained of tenderness. The doctor said that he will stop examining immediately, as patient appeared easily irritable. We try to cause as little pain for the patient as possible. He asked if the patient was under some stress lately. He asked if patient has been moody, bad tempered or forgetful lately. He asked if there were stress events like divorce. This was asked in a soft, gentle and calm manner in case it hits any raw nerve. We need to make an accurate diagnosis. It turns out that the patient also had another medical condition and was given medical advice for that.
Mental symptoms like irritability, confusion, disturbed thought patterns and forgetfulness are routine questions as they are associated with medical conditions that patients may not have insight or aware of.
The patient was given medications for the eye.
The patient was also given medication for another condition unrelated to the eye. It was requested by the patient.
We practise a higher form of primary care by to treating all of our patients holistically and not only with their presenting complaint. We also do opportunistic screening and help pick up medical conditions that patients may not even be aware of. We are very careful with our work and spend try to spend as much time as possible on each patient and in doing so , try to make as little error as possible.
Although the patient came to see us for management of her eye, our doctor was able to pick up accurately another medical condition that the patient did not mention, and was given medication for it. We hope this medication is a starting point to make her quality of life better, other than just treating the eye. We apologise for the discomfort caused.
Tycen Teo wrote in 29.9.23
Highly recommend you to see the review before making a visit for consultation. It is my very first time bringing my worker here. I arrived at 11.40pm, and were rejected registration and told to come back at 2:00pm later? Like that might as well, I bring my worker to the polyclinic instead? Counter staff's voice so soft that I have to ask twice what she is talking about. We are not in a library, mind you.
Our reply:
We thank the patient for taking her precious time in logging in and writing the review. Such reviews help us identify our weaknesses and improve our service.
Our closing time is the time we stop work and not the time we stop registration. Our clinic stops work at 12 noon. At that time there were still patient in the queue. We may not be able to continue working after the closing time if the doctor is tired or has prior meeting arranged.We apologise for the inconvenience.
LLllNG WROTE:
DO NOT visit this clinic unless you're very free. The doctor has zero respect for people's time. I was waiting for close to 2 hours. Then wait another 20 min just to pay. The counter staff very free also so I think the doctor is just dilly dally with his prescription.. I notice there is a 20 min gap between consultation. Don't know what the doctor is doing.
Our reply:
During the Covid pandemic, there were additional requirements that takes up a lot of time behind the scene. Patients with upper respiratory tract symptoms had to be seen in a separate room to prevent cross infection with other patients. This isolation room had to be sterilised between patients and the doctor had to changed his full PPE every time he changed room. He had to change his gown, N95 mask ,gloves and cap which takes time. On top of that, he has to notify, by typing into the internet, to MOH the particulars and details of the patient. The patient had to be swabbed and the particulars and results typed into the laboratory request site and MOH’s website. If the patient is given special Covid medications, the doctor has to log into the patient’s NEHR record into the internet to check for drug interactions as well as update MOH that the patient was given this expensive medications. All these are on top of the patient’s usual history taking, physical examination and dispensing of medications. One patient can easily take up 20 minutes and we can only see about 3 patients per hour. There was a time when MOH advised citizens not to attend GP clinic even if they were Covid positive because we were overwhelmed by the additional work involved. We thank the patient for taking her precious time in logging in and writing the review. Such reviews help us identify our weaknesses and improve our service.We hope everyone can understand that we were overwhelmed.
June 2023 ,Mikki Sim wrote:
similar to all other experiences that the others encountered, this is indeed the worst private clinic I have ever been to. doctor trying so hard to be “funny” does not help with the efficiency nor consultation. the clinic had only 3 people but the waiting time was over an hour. ridiculous and I will never come back again.
We replied in March 2024,
During the Covid pandemic, there were additional requirements that takes up a lot of time behind the scene. Patients with upper respiratory tract symptoms had to be seen in a separate room to prevent cross infection with other patients. This isolation room had to be sterilised between patients and the doctor had to changed his full PPE every time he changed room. He had to change his gown, N95 mask ,gloves and cap which takes time. On top of that, he has to notify, by typing into the internet, to MOH the particulars and details of the patient. The patient had to be swabbed and the particulars and results typed into the laboratory request site and MOH’s website. If the patient is given special Covid medications, the doctor has to log into the patient’s NEHR record into the internet to check for drug interactions as well as update MOH that the patient was given this expensive medications. All these are on top of the patient’s usual history taking, physical examination and dispensing of medications. One patient can easily take up 20 minutes and we can only see about 3 patients per hour. There was a time when MOH advised citizens not to attend GP clinic even if they were Covid positive because we were overwhelmed by the additional work involved. We thank the patient for taking her precious time in logging in and writing the review. Such reviews help us identify our weaknesses and improve our service.We hope everyone can understand that we were overwhelmed.
Mikki Sim Replied in 3. March 2024,:
the reply simply did not make sense. firstly, 8 months ago was way past the active COVID period already and I was NOT COVID positive so the swab did not apply to me. secondly, my main point is the doctor was trying to be “funny” by making stupid jokes instead of trying to see the patients faster. full of nonsense.
On 17.3.2024 we replied,
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We are sorry that you did not like our response. We thought that you were unhappy that your waiting time was over an hour for 3 patients, as you stated.
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You came on 17.6.23 to collect your lab result. In June 2023, we still had to follow Covid procedures as there were still active Covid cases, and we need to protect our elderly, pregnant and young children.
We informed you that we cannot just give you the results over the counter as we had to discuss some issues about the result with you. According to our system we registered you at 9.15am and you were seen at 9.59am. During registration, you asked us how many patients before your turn and we informed you.
At that time, two patients were seen together at the same consultation : they were mother and child, so it took longer than usual. They asked a lot of questions and we cannot stop them.
The following patient did not take up much time.
After that we had to settle the first patient of the morning, as he was seeing us for chronic illnesses, and we had to prepare his blood and urine tests to send to the laboratory, which will arrive any moment.
When it was your turn, my nurse wrongly called another patient because there was an error in the computer queue due to earlier data entry. You angrily pointed it out. We already allowed you to enter the consultation room before him, so you were not skipped any turn.
You appeared unhappy as you entered the room.
We usually try our best to be friendly to all our patients by engaging in small talk and humour with our patients so as to develop a strong rapport. Studies and textbooks has shown that a good doctor patient relationship improves patient outcomes, compliance and follow ups. Your husband, who has been seeing us since he was a baby, was also in the room, and it was like a pleasant meeting up of old friends. We did not charge you for the visit. Most of our patients appreciate our friendliness and patience. We are sorry that you view it from a different perspective and we wish you a happy marriage with your husband.