KKH unable to identify case described online

KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) is looking into a pregnant woman's claim that she waited for four hours last month to be treated for abdominal pains at the hospital and eventually lost her baby.

Professor Tan Hak Koon, chairman of the Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) at KKH, told The Straits Times yesterday that the hospital is aware of an online account of the incident at its 24-hour Urgent O&G Centre.

The woman's claims about the incident have been making the rounds on social media.

She said that she was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, and was turned away by two private hospitals as she had tested positive for Covid-19.

She said that she then went to KKH at 2pm but was told to wait at the drop-off area.

At 5pm, she said she started to bleed but was still not attended to. When a doctor eventually saw her at 6pm, she said she was told that she had lost her baby.

Prof Tan said: "Despite our best efforts, we are still unable to identify the patient based on the scenario reported... There appear to be discrepancies between the story and the bill information shared online."

He added that the hospital does not turn away patients in need of medical care, and patients with the highest level of urgency will be attended to immediately at the Urgent O&G Centre.

"The average waiting time for patients in the middle level of urgency is within 30 minutes," he added.

He also disputed the woman's claim that the foetus had been discarded as medical waste, saying its procedure is for the patient to claim the foetus, or the hospital's mortuary would bury or cremate it.

KKH has urged the patient to contact the hospital at feedback@kkh.com.sg

News of this alleged incident follows a separate case where a 36-week pregnant woman who was bleeding had to wait at the National University Hospital's (NUH) emergency department (ED) for two hours and later lost her baby.