SINGAPORE: A man caused a stir online after he posted a video of himself ordering Panadol, a painkiller, from foodpanda after being unable to get it from Sengkang General Hospital (SKH). After saying he waited for hours for the medication, he thanked a foodpanda rider for his “express service”, saying, “You come here within how many minutes.”
“Can you imagine… asking for Panadol and I cannot get the medicine from a first-world hospital… it is really ridiculous,” he says in the clip as he walks from his room to the SKH reception area to meet the foodpanda rider. Mr Hamid Osman, who goes by @jombadok on TikTok, also asked the rider to confirm what he had ordered.
@jombadok Cannot get Panadol at Sengkang Hospital #viraltiktok #viraltiktoksg #sgtiktok #fypシ #fyp #viral
“This is bloody ridiculous,” he says, shaking his head. “You guys make me viral and tell the whole world… Getting Panadol through foodpanda. Can you beat that? Can you beat that?”
He added that he might as well go home since he has painkillers there. “This is the first time I’m being warded at Sengkang General Hospital,” he also said, calling it “a bit (of a) letdown. Seriously.” He then said he would go to his room to take his medicine.
Mr Hamid, 55, told The Straits Times that he had been admitted at SKH on Sept 11 for gangrene and an ulcer on his right heel. He did go home on Sept 15 (Friday) but will be back on Sept 22 as one of his toes needs amputation.
SKH responded to Mr Hamid in a Facebook post on Monday (Sept 18).
The hospital admitted to being aware of the TikTok video Mr Hamid posted of him “ordering Panadol from foodpanda as a result of an alleged lack of promptness at our hospital.”
“We are sorry that the patient felt he did not have a comfortable experience. We would like to assure the public that his care team had rendered the appropriate care based on his condition during his hospital stay, and he has since been certified medically fit for discharge.
SKH is committed to attending to every patient in a timely manner. In the case of a new admission, all medications must be approved by the doctor for patient safety and ordered through the system for record purposes.
Patients with less acute conditions may sometimes experience longer waiting times compared to those who are being treated for serious urgent and life-threatening emergencies.”
The video has received almost 56,000 views since it was posted on Sept 13. /TISG