For a smooth clinic visit, kindly ensure the following has been done BEFORE your visit:
1. Confirm with your insurer that:
- Your insurance can be used at our clinic
- Criteria for insurance usage e.g. age of child, need for GP referral letter etc.
- Payment terms e.g. co-payment (if any), pay first and claim later
- Terms of coverage for treatment and medication
- Limits of claim amount
2. Bring along your insurance card for verification at the clinic.
3. Keep the 24-hour hotline of your insurer, should you have further questions while at our clinic.
At Kids Clinic @ Punggol, we strive to provide the best patient experience possible, amidst our very high patient volume, fast-paced clinic and complex patient mix with both walk-ins & appointments to manage. To achieve this by taking all factors into account, we have implemented a queue system as follows:
1. Queue Priority For Urgent Cases
The following are some examples of urgent cases with queue priority (non-exhaustive):
- High Fever of 39°C & above
- Shortness of Breath, Audible Wheezing / Stridor
- Severe Vomiting and/or Vomiting of Blood
- Severe Abdominal Pain
- Fainting Spells
- Seizures & Fits
- Severe Allergic Reaction
2. Queue System and Appointment Policy
We accept both WALK-IN patients and APPOINTMENT patients. Patients may book an appointment with us via the Kids Clinic website (www.kidsclinic.sg) or by emailing us at [email protected].
We NO LONGER give a queue number to WALK-IN patients, as it often causes confusion and frustration when queue numbers do not move in sequence due to urgent cases being attended to first. Instead, we will provide WALK-IN patients with an estimated waiting time, and will advise on the time to return back to the clinic. An SMS will be sent to the parent a few patients before their child’s turn so that they can make their way back to the clinic.
There are two types of appointment patients – FORMAL appointments and SLOT-IN appointments. FORMAL appointment patients will be seen within 30 mins of appointment timing, while all SLOT-IN appointment patients will be seen within 1 hour of appointment timing, subject to changes depending on the presence of sicker patients in the queue requiring immediate medical attention. SLOT-IN appointments are booked out of goodwill to help accommodate patients when FORMAL appointments have been fully booked. Waiting time for SLOT-IN appointments will be shorter than those in the WALK-IN queue.
For FORMAL appointment patients, we will hold your appointment for 30 mins before the slot is freed up. For SLOT-IN appointment patients, we will hold your appointment for 1 hour. If you arrive beyond the above timings, you will have to join the walk-in queue. If you arrive earlier than your appointment slot, we will not be able to see your child earlier as we have many other appointment patients and walk-in patients to attend to as well.
3. Clinic Registration
Registration can only be done in person at the clinic. We do not allow registration over the phone or email to be fair to all parents, especially those who came very early to join the walk-in queue. Parents may register physically in the clinic without their child first, and then bring their child to the clinic at the estimated time given by our counter staff.
Waiting time estimations will only be given at the point of registration in the clinic, and not over the phone/email (especially for busy sessions like Sunday mornings). This is because, depending on the time of arrival at the clinic after the phone call/email, the waiting time might have changed due to the constant influx of walk-in patients and the arrival of appointment patients.
Please note that registration will end 30 mins before our closing time. However, for certain Sunday morning clinics and night clinics, registration cut-off time might be shifted earlier when there is an overwhelming number of patients with very long waiting times. Parents who are intending to walk in to register are strongly encouraged to do so early to avoid disappointment. Nonetheless, for those who were not able to register due to an earlier registration cut-off from overwhelming patient numbers, our staff will also help to book next-day appointments for you and/or offer alternative clinics/medical facilities to visit.
4. Mode of Communication
Please communicate with us via email ([email protected]). It is the fastest way to reach us because we receive quick notifications and thus respond to emails faster. Due to the high volume of calls (average of 10-15 phone calls coming in concurrently every 10 mins), many calls will be diverted to a pre-recorded message and voice email after a few rings. The very high patient volume also makes it difficult for every single phone call to be picked up.
We sincerely thank you very much for your kind patience and understanding!
1. For opening hours, Dr Dave’s leave & last-minute clinic closures, visit:
- Google Business Directory (Kids Clinic @ Punggol by SMG)
- Website: www.kidsclinic.sg
- Facebook: /kidsclinicsg
- Instagram: @kidsclinicsg
- Dr Dave’s Instagram: @drdaveong
2. For booking an appointment:
- Book via www.kidsclinic.sg (Fast response)
- Email us at [email protected] (Fast response)
- Call us at 6817 8885 (Lines are very often engaged, hence please book via website or email if possible)
3. For any other queries or concerns:
- Email us at [email protected] (Fast response)
- Call us at 68178885 (lines are very often engaged, hence please email us if possible)
- Leave us a voice message on +65 6817 8885 (Fast response)
Follow Dr Dave on Instagram (@drdaveong) for important clinic updates and sharing of medical information!
How the Medisave Claim Works:
1. Please bring your child’s birth certificate and the CDA card for your vaccine appointment.
2. During registration, please inform our staff that you would like to use Medisave to pay for the vaccines.
3. The staff will pass you a Medisave form to fill up.
4. You will have to pay for the vaccines first (using the CDA card/NETS/cash).
5. Our clinic staff will apply for the Medisave claim on your behalf.
6. Once the Medisave claim is approved, we will arrange for a reimbursement directly into your CDA account or via cheque/PayNow depending on your payment mode.
Please take note that the whole process will take about 6-8 weeks.
Medisave claims may not be approved if there are any problems or limitations with the account (insufficient funds etc.).
1. We may need to stop walk-in registration earlier than 12.30pm (e.g. 11.30am) if there are too many patients in the queue (e.g. 80) with too long waiting time (e.g. 4-5 hours).
2. Average walk-in waiting time on Sunday ranges from 2-5 hours, depending on which part of the queue you belong to.
3. As per protocol, we do not register walk-in patients into the queue via phone as it would be unfair for those who physically queued much earlier before clinic opening. You do not need to bring your child to register, you may go home after registration and bring your child back to clinic at the estimated time. We will also give you a call to remind, a few patients before your turn.
4. We are unable to give the exact waiting time over the phone (only a rough estimation) because waiting time would have changed by the time you reach our clinic, due to a constant influx of walk-in patients.
