A CHANGI General Hospital (CGH) spokesman said that Miss Lee Ching Pey was first attended to by the ward doctor at 10.30am.

He ordered an analgesia injection (for pain control) and intravenous antibiotics to prepare her for surgery.

The medical officer from the orthopaedic team reviewed her at 3pm.

After examining her, he informed Miss Lee and her relatives that the wound on the right upper arm was fairly deep, but there did not appear to be any injuries to the major blood vessels and nerves.

He recommended that she undergo surgery to clean and explore the wound and, possibly, to repair the cut structures.

The hospital has on-call medical teams for its essential services, like orthopaedic surgery, to handle patients with medical emergencies.

Miss Lee was assigned to the orthopaedic on-call team.

She was reviewed at 6.45pm by CGH's orthopaedic surgeon.

The spokesman said: 'Prior to that, he was attending to his other patients at the hospital. Miss Lee's condition was stable and monitored by the nurses. Her injury was not life- or limb-threatening.'

The spokesman added: 'We sincerely apologise for Miss Lee's wait for her surgery, which was longer than expected.

'This was due to several ill patients who also required emergency surgery.'

They included a patient needing surgery to repair the femoral artery, a patient needing a leg amputation, a patient with appendicitis and a patient needing surgery to treat an infected knee.

'Priority for emergency surgery is made according to the severity of the patient's condition,' the spokesman said. 'This is to ensure that someone with a life-threatening situation is operated on promptly.

'On the day that Miss Lee had her operation, the patient with a bleeding femoral artery (a major artery) was taken directly from A&E to the operating theatre.'

She agreed that prolonged fasting is distressing for a patient.

'After reviewing this incident, we have reinforced the need for our staff members to keep patients updated when they encounter such situations and review the need for the patient to remain fasted.

'A patient may be served a meal if the operation is likely to be more than six hours later,' she said.

The spokesman also apologised for the delay in ordering and administering Miss Lee's epilepsy medicine.

The first dose of the medication given was 200mg.

Miss Lee then informed the nurse that her usual dose is half of a 500mg tablet and she took her own medicine, the spokesman said.

This story was first published in The New Paper on July 17, 2008.