I REFER to Ms Chua Yee Mei's letter, "Can patients be accompanied?" (my paper, April 14).

Patients can be accompanied during a consultation with a doctor. This is especially helpful for paediatric, geriatric or psychiatric patients, as information from caregivers will aid in providing doctors with an accurate picture of
a patient's medical history.

However, there are times when doctors request a lone consultation with patients.

This usually happens when there are confidential or sensitive medical issues which have to be discussed in private. This is done to respect patient confidentiality.

We thank Ms Chua for her feedback. She should feel free to e-mail us at enquiries@rafflesmedical.com with particulars of the incident if further clarification is needed.

Dr Chng Shih Kiat
Deputy medical director
Raffles Medical

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