Some patients had late appointments on Saturday (August 27) due to system outages at some polyclinics due to network hardware issues.
In response to an inquiry by The Straits Times, a spokesperson for Integrated Health Information Systems said network maintenance took place between midnight and 5 a.m. Saturday.
“At around 7:20 am, we discovered a network hardware issue affecting some IT systems.
“All clinics have implemented business continuity measures to manage ground operations. The issue has been corrected and IT systems have gradually returned to normal between 9:05 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. on the same day. .We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
ST understands that some of the seven polyclinics under the National University Polyclinics were affected.
Tan, who declined to give his full name and age, informed ST about the outage.
He said he arrived at the Choa Chu Kang Polyclinic at 9 a.m. for a scheduled blood test and saw 20 to 30 people, mostly elderly, in the lobby.
He said he heard staff at the polyclinic telling patients that they couldn’t see their doctor because the system was down and that their appointment had to be rescheduled.
Tan said he was told in a phone call with the health ministry that “the system of polyclinics in the western district is currently having problems.”
Many of those affected have returned home, he said.
When he returned to the polyclinic at 10:00 am, the system was working fine and he got a cue number for a blood test about 10 minutes later.
