My husband is a kidney transplant patient. His medical records and treatment are all handled by the National University Hospital (NUH), because an understanding of his condition and the continuity of care is critical.

Recently, he had a medical emergency and I called an ambulance. Instead of NUH, he was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Hours later, he was transferred to NUH because of his kidney transplant status.

I understand that the protocol is for public ambulances to take a patient to the nearest hospital, even if it is not the one that regularly takes care of the patient.

However, in the case of kidney transplant patients, this must be handled differently. In our case, several hours were wasted.

Ong Nyuk Ying