We appreciate Mr Wee's feedback and apologise for the unpleasant experience. Maintaining the cleanliness of public toilets is a constant challenge, and Mr Wee's experience has shown us that there is room for improvement in the maintenance and cleanliness of our toilets.

Some of the measures we have taken - or will be embarking on - for improvement include:

Increasing the current pool of dedicated cleaners for heavily used toilets so that more frequent cleaning can be done;

Reminding staff to follow existing guidelines on informing maintenance promptly if they notice any defects;

Posting a hotline number in heavily used toilets for users to alert us when the toilet is soiled by a previous user or if there is any defect;

Piloting a call switch - linked to housekeepers' PDAs - in some toilets for users to give feedback if a toilet is not clean; and

Improvement works for better ventilation and to facilitate maintenance works.

Recognising the important role that users can play, we will also be increasing our public education efforts on proper toilet etiquette.

In the longer term, the cooperation and support of the public and users will be the most effective measure in helping to ensure that public toilets are kept clean.

On our part, we will certainly strive to improve on the maintenance of our public facilities to give our patients and visitors a total positive experience, while still delivering on our commitment to provide cost-effective patient care.

We also thank Mr Wee for his positive comments about our excellent medical care, as well as our nurses' professionalism and kindness.

We welcome other suggestions which he may have to help us improve.

He can contact our quality improvement manager Kelvin Ng on 1800- 778-9243.

Joe Sim
Chief Operating Officer
National University Hospital