Inexperienced doctor in NUH Emergency

We brought my mum to the NUH Emergency this morning as she was complaining of an acute pain in her right lower abdominal area. She had the pain since last night. She suspected it was appendicitis as she also had some abdominal swelling and diarrhoea.

A young and inexperienced doctor (Dr Soo) did not give my mum an accurate diagnose. He suspected cervival cancer instead of appendicitis. He insisted that fever always comes with appendicitis. However IF he was experience, well knowledged and resourceful, he would've known that fever is just one of the symptoms along with others such as diarrhoea, vomitting, pain in lower right abdominal area, abdominal swelling, constipation, failure to pass gas. ALSO if he's not sure, he could've done an ultrasound scan on the abdominal area to see if there's any inflamation in the appendix. Instead, he gave my mum a jab for pain relieving and some pain killers and told her to go home and rest and go back to the hospital if the pain persist.

GOODNESS! My poor mum endured the pain for the entire day and I sense that something is amiss and I told her to go to the Raffles Medical clinic near her home instead. After some checks, the doctor told my mum that she must be having appendicitis. So he instructed her to admit to the hospital straight away.

There has been so many news on and off about the inexperienced doctors in NUH and of course everyone needs somewhere to start but if you are unsure about your diagnosis, why not seek a second opinion from another experienced doctor! Although appendicitis is not a terminal illness but it affects a lot of people every year and if not treated, it will still lead to death!

I just hope that these young and inexperienced doctors could do more to help patients. Get second opinion if possible.