Have better processes for baby blood test and checkup in polyclinics

Jaundice is common in newborns but it still causes much anxiety for new parents.

The baby is usually taken to a polyclinic for a serum bilirubin blood test.

In Choa Chu Kang polyclinic, the small blood sample test was conducted in a common area, where other adults patients were sharing the same facilities.

Is this an acceptable arrangement, as infants are notoriously susceptible to bacterial infections?

Also, a doctor prescribed lactulose to a 25-day-old infant diagnosed with constipation. It was later withdrawn after the medicine was dispensed and collected.

Why was such inappropriate treatment prescribed in the first place?

Polyclinics should have better processes for infant lab tests to avoid cross infection, like baby consulting rooms in an isolated corner.

Isolating them would improve the the professionalism of the doctors.

Long Denghan

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