We thank Mr Pradeep K. Mathur for his feedback (Some seniors still have trouble getting polyclinic appointments, Aug 31), and apologise for his difficulty in getting through to the contact centre, and the inconvenience caused.

We understand his frustration, and will continue to improve our service to serve our patients better.

The call volume at the National University Health System (NUHS) contact centre has remained high, and the group has been adding more staff and upgrading the system to ramp up its capacity to manage the call volume.

We encourage our patients to use self-help options, such as the OneNUHS app, as this would free up the contact centre hotline for older patients and those who face challenges navigating online services.

We are aware that some seniors do not have smartphones or are not familiar with using the app to book or manage their appointments.

If they have difficulties with the app, they can approach our polyclinic staff for help in downloading and installing it. Our staff can also guide and teach them to use the app.

Alternatively, caregivers can help to make appointments via the app. If need be, our staff will help them book the appointment.

We would like to assure all our patients that we will do our best to help them so that they can receive the care they need.

Samuel Ng
Chief Operating Officer
National University Polyclinics