I was looking for the operating hours for the clinic of my family doctor, Dr Phua and I saw that the view was poor. I thought that was unfair for him and thus I wrote a review for him. To be fair, all the rest of the clinic in Tanjong Pagar have very poor ratings.
Here it goes:
From my personal experience with Dr Phua, he’s a very friendly, detailed, patient, witty and straightforward doctor.
I appreciate a doctor who spends time to diagnose my health and tries to find out more. I believe this greatly increases the waiting time for every patient but it’s definitely worth it. Unfortunately, if any patient is so sick that he/she can’t wait, I would suggest he/she to rush to SGH’s A&E straightaway – they will have the equipment to save you.
Dr Phua will find ways to reduce the medical bill when he knows the patient is not well to do, such as not charging the consultation fee (of course, medicine has to be paid). It’s clear that he’s not a doctor who’s solely interested in making money.
I have seen many other reviews here that give negative rating due to the “rude” lady at the counter and the waiting time. From my past experience, she’s just straightforward. If you try to provoke her, then don’t blame her for retaliating? As for the long waiting time, it’s their usual practice that the lady would open the clinic earlier and take registration but Dr Phua would only come in later – nothing is wrong with that unless patients prefer to queue outside the clinic and registering at the time the doctor arrives. Do also note that it’s a private clinic. Even at the polyclinic the doctors don’t go to their consultation rooms at “8am” sharp. Another point to note is that from my past experience visiting other clinics around Tanjong Pagar, the waiting time may reach an hour or even longer.
Therefore, most of the one-star reviews here are way too biased. For example, if one is unhappy with the registration, just give a four-star (5-1=4) is really fairer.
As mentioned by another reviewer here, together with my mum’s testimony, Dr Phua is negative with TCM but that’s his personal view. If you visit a western doctor and keep telling him about what this TCM physician says, I think it’s very nice of him to not chase you away. There are many old people staying in Tanjong Pagar and imagine many of them have experience with TCM and have talked to him about it, I don’t think it’s fair to him. My mum is one of them.
By the way, I usually visit the nearby TCM instead because it’s cheap. Moreover, I dislike the taste of Western medicine, which will also make me drowsy. If necessary (fever), I would visit the Outram Park polyclinic instead because of the lower medical bill. However, if I want to have a speedy recovery and is too weak to travel further, the first and only GP I have in mind is always Dr Phua.
The most important thing about a doctor is his passion. He puts the health of his patients above money and that deserves our full admiration.