9 polyclinics hit by IT system disruption

9 polyclinics hit by IT system disruption
The disruption, which lasted for an hour, affected the Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok, Choa Chu Kang, Clementi, Hougang, Jurong, Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Yishun Polyclinics.

Posted 06 Jun 2016 14:29

SINGAPORE: Patients were turned away and others had to wait longer than usual after nine polyclinics were hit by IT system disruptions on Monday morning (Jun 6).

The disruption, which lasted for an hour, affected the Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok, Choa Chu Kang, Clementi, Hougang, Jurong, Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Yishun Polyclinics. All nine are managed by the National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (NHGP).

Singapore has a total of 18 polyclinics. The other nine polyclinics are managed by Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) and were unaffected by the IT system disruption.

Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, NHGP said it experienced “intermittent IT system disruptions and slowness” from 8.20am to 9.20am.

Waiting times were longer than usual, but patients with urgent medical conditions were expedited for treatments, NHGP said, adding that the polyclinics carried out manual registrations during the downtime.

“We are closely monitoring the system performance and investigating the cause of the IT system issues,” it said.

Among those affected was Mr Quek Jia Wei, who brought his baby to Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic for a scheduled vaccination.

Writing on NHG’s Facebook page, Mr Quek said he was turned away by polyclinic staff who told him that the IT system was down.

“Why is there no proper system to contact me prior instead wasting my time to take leave and bring my baby over today? This should not be the way and backup system should be readily available to carry on operation,” he said.

Many elderly people seeking medical care were turned away as well, Mr Quek added.

- CNA/cy


- wong chee tat :)