BY NG WAN CHING

THE Lim family had been looking forward to celebrating this Chinese New Year with their mother, but now that will never be.

Instead, they are grieving. Their mother, Madam Teh Sing Eng, 83, died on 31 Dec last year.

Compounding the family's grief is their belief that their mother suffered unneccessarily and died prematurely.

Seeking redress, they made an official complaint to the Singapore Medical Council, possibly the first of the year against a doctor.

One of the family members is himself a health professional - a staff nurse - at Changi General Hospital (CGH), the same hospital where his mother was treated and where she died.

He firmly believes that his mother was not treated correctly and in a timely manner.

Now he and his siblings are also asking why the doctors they have complained against are still allowed to work.

But a CGH spokesman said that the hospital's review so far has shown that appropriate medical treatment was given to Madam Teh and that there was no lapse of care in her management.

"We feel that our medical staff had exhibited patience, compassion and appropriate care throughout Madam Teh's complicated illness," said the spokesman.

She added that the hospital feels there is nothing to indicate that any of their doctors is unfit to practise, as suggested by the family.

The Lims - there are six brothers and three sisters - are not buying the hospital's explanation.