Response to The Straits Times Online Forum Letter on ''Be more accountable to National Servicemen with medical conditions''

National Servicemen's Medical Records Managed Electronically.

We thank Mr Brian Tan for his letter, "Be more accountable to National Servicemen with medical conditions" on 21 Apr 2012. Since the late 1990s, the SAF has adopted an electronic medical records system for all servicemen. This enables past medical records to be retrieved more efficiently during medical consultation.

The current medical docket is used only for storing hard-copy medical documents issued by doctors outside the SAF. The SAF Military Medicine Institute (MMI) has verified that the fainting episodes mentioned in Mr Tan's letter were captured in his electronic medical records. In addition, our medical records indicate that Mr Tan had undergone a personal health screening in Mar 2011, after which he presented the results to an SAF medical centre during a medical review in Aug 2011. Mr Tan's medical review has been duly processed and we apologise for not getting in touch with him to apprise him of the outcome.

For medical confidentiality reasons, MMI has contacted Mr Tan personally to clarify his medical status. MINDEF and the SAF takes the health and well-being of our personnel seriously, and will continue to maintain a high standard of medical care for our people.

Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Lionel Cheng
Commander MMI
Singapore Armed Forces

MINDEF's reply was published as "National servicemen's medical records managed electronically", The Straits Times Online, 26 Apr 12