This morning went to polyclinic to have our boy screen for bilirubin level. It was high at 292. The doctor recommended admission for photo-therapy.
When we left for home and ready to get re-admitted, we couldn't find the referral letter. The attending doctor didn't give us that. In addition, we were not given the bilirubin test result. Is this how the SOP is?
We decided to forgo re-admission today and decided to revisit the polyclinic tomorrow.
However, we received a phone call from SGH later for a routine update on mother and child. We told the nurse about the bilirubin result. She advised us to admit our boy for photo-therapy today. We told her we had no referral letter. After getting back from her superior, she advised us to walk in anyway.
We were instructed to walk in to SGH Accident & Emergency (A&E). The place was chaotic. There were many patients and the place looked like Black Friday sale but with lethargic looking "shoppers" instead.
Registration was slow but our 4 days old baby was cooperating. Mom's wound was still hurting because of hematoma and stitches. There was no place to sit. There was no where to stand too.
We were directed to Triage room. The attending staff was surprisingly calm and helpful in the chaos. Later, we were directed to a corridor filled with patients waiting for their call numbers. Our boy stayed crying as he soiled his diaper and it was time for meal. We asked the information staff if there is any nursing room. There was none. We tried to sooth him to no avail. Fortunately, there were caring staffs in SGH. They allowed mom and child in to an empty room for breast-feeding.
A doctor attended to us later. She needed blood sample for the test. She couldn't get uninterrupted stream of blood into a glass capillary. On the second try, baby's blood got clotted. Another doctor who was there helped. He prepared a kidney tray with warm water and placed our boy's foot into it. This helped to sooth our boy and also improved circulation (especially in air-con room). Then he used a gel and applied on the sole. With swift movement, he pricked and collected our baby's blood sample.
It would take 1 to 2 hours for the result. Mom and child had no where to go but to be seated in the overcrowded room. There is no place to change diaper and for nursing baby.
It took three hours to get admitted to the ward from A&E to Ward 53.
Good news is that there are plenty of empathetic and passionate nurses, caretakers, and doctors.
Bad news is that the chaotic situation recurs daily and until a brilliant solution is found, that's the status quo.
I'll update with my thought about this topic next time. For now, our boy's bilirubin level had gone down to 260.
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