Identity Rectification Cases in Public Hospitals and Their Cost

Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Health (a) why does the National University Hospital need to pay $10,000 to have Aminin Amin Sham Simon's actual identity rectified in its systems; (b) in the last five years, how many such cases of identity rectification have occurred in the public hospitals; (c) how much has been paid for such cases; and (d) whether the quantum of fees for identity rectification can be reduced and, if not, why not.

The incident arose when a patient who was brought into the hospital by an ambulance did not have his National Registration Identity Card with him, lied about his identity, in order to conceal a criminal offence committed earlier. This resulted in a wrong data entry, which the hospital has to rectify later.

In the rectification process, no payment was made to any information technology (IT) vendors. Everything was done by existing IT personnel, but it was a tedious process. The hospital was asked by the Police to estimate the cost, and the estimate of the cost of in-house manpower needed was $10,000.

Lying about one's identity is a very serious matter. It endangers the patient and the clinical team and also incurs unnecessary costs and man effort.