In the article “GPs air concerns about annual service fee, medication subsidies” (Oct 16), family physician Lim Hong Shen said general practitioners (GPs) should be reimbursed more for patients who are healthier rather than for patients who are chronically ill.

As doctors, it is their moral duty to ensure that patients are healthy. No patient will stay with a doctor and expect to be in poorer health than before. Hence, it should not be the case that doctors are paid more to keep their patients healthy.

It should be the moral and professional duty of doctors to take care of their patients, rather than to prioritise monetary incentives over patient health.

Moreover, the need to incentivise GPs to keep their patients healthy implies that patients themselves are not capable of taking ownership of their health. This breeds an unhealthy reliance on doctors.

The onus is on individuals to keep themselves healthy. Perhaps the Government can consider incentivising patients to turn up for all their appointments.

Tan Teck Lee