29/1 - Hospital Review: UMSC - Stroke Treatment

Rating: 1/5

Today I went to the UM Specialist Centre (UMSC) for our third appointment for my dad's stroke with Dr. Tan Kay Sin. Overall our whole experience at UMSC is quite disappointing. We kept getting referred left and right to other doctors, while the doctors themselves questioned why they received the referral and why we came to them.

The Backstory: GH vs. UMSC For context, we first went to GH when we suspected my dad's stroke. We did a CT scan which confirmed it. However, GH simply dismissed us, claiming nothing could be done. They prescribed medication with barely any explanation, and the next specialist appointment was set for 3 months later.

Since that wait was too long, we went to UMSC based on a recommendation.

The Run-Around & Testing We were first referred to Dr. Goh in the neurology department. Dr. Goh provided little consultation and candidly said, "Well, stroke is not my expertise, you should go to Dr. Tan Kay Sin since he's the stroke expert." So we made an appointment to see him.

At our first appointment, we were told to do 4 tests: MRI scan, blood & urine test, ECG, and Echocardiogram.

We tried to do the MRI at UMSC but were told we had to wait 2 weeks. Which is ridiculous. This is not even a government hospital; it's semi-private. Refusing to wait, we made an appointment at Tung Shin Hospital for the day after tomorrow. We went in as walk-ins. They quoted RM4000 for 3 MRIs (Brain with contrast, MRA, and MRA neck). We managed to get it done by 2pm and received the result instantly. The radiologist graciously explained the results when we asked. We even received a discount, paying RM3500. Overall the Tung Shin experience was far superior to UMSC.

The "Expert" Consultation A few days later, we returned to UMSC for the appointment with Dr. Tan Kay Sin and provided the MRI result.

He didn't even look at the scan; he merely read the summary report from the radiology file cover. That is something I can do—just ask ChatGPT to translate it for me. He noted narrowing around the eye (reiterating the summary's jargon) but claimed it wasn't clear, so we needed a Doppler eye test.

It makes us suspect if he even read the result honestly, or if the test was even necessary. It seems weird to suggest the MRI scan wouldn't show the narrowing around the eye (occipital lobe) clearly enough, requiring a Doppler test, WITHOUT HIM EVEN LOOKING AT THE MRI SCAN. but i may be wrong.

To make things funnier, on top of Dr. Tan, the hospital inexplicably referred us to Dr. Imran from Cardiology to explain the Echocardiogram and ECG results. But honestly, the result itself clearly stated it's okay. Even Dr. Imran didn't know why he received the referral and looked confused. IT'S ridiculous, because we still had to pay the consultation fee for the hospital's confusion which offered no benefit to us.

Today's Experience (3rd Appointment) The filing and organization seem poor, and the fact that the nurse changes each time makes it worse.

• Scheduling Mess: We came to get the result for the Transcranial Doppler test. The appointment was supposed to be yesterday, but for some reason, we were turned away and rescheduled to today.
• The Wait: We arrived at 2pm. They couldn't even find the Doppler test result, forcing us to wait another hour.
• The Doctor's Memory: When called, the doctor didn't even remember us, asking "Where is the MRI test?"—which we already did and shared with him during the last appointment.
• The Result: After all that, the doctor essentially repeated his findings from the MRI scan result. Overall verdict: nothing to do except continue meds for blood thinner, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, etc.

The Worst Parts

1. Missing Crucial Care (Aphasia): We explicitly told the doctor my dad had aphasia symptoms. Throughout 3 weeks of back-and-forth with UMSC, he made NO MENTION of getting therapy for his speech problem. I had to read online that speech therapy is crucial and best done early, as most improvement happens in the first month. The fact that the "expert" didn't even mention this felt negligent. To top it off, when we tried to make an appointment for the therapy, we were told we had to wait 4 months. Laughable.
2. Unsigned Results: When we asked for the hard copy of the Doppler test result, we couldn't get it because he hadn't signed it yet. Which is ridiculous. We've been waiting a week since the test. The hospital was supposed to call today, yet we had to freaking go to the hospital and pick it up again.
3. The Audacity: During the session, the Dr had the gall to ask, "Why do you come here actually?" Freaking ridiculous. This is our third appointment with him and he doesn't even remember. He kept complaining, "why do we see so many doctors" or "why did this dr refer him". It's clear my dad is having a stroke and HE is the stroke expert. All the referrals and passing between doctors are not by us anyway. IT'S BY THE FREAKING HOSPITAL.

I felt like the hospital never admits any mistake or apologizes. It's clearly the hospital's confusion and repeated mistakes, but instead, they blame us or give excuses like "why do we see so many doctors" or "why did this dr refer him".,"oh your file is missing", "oh the result has a mistake, I have to correct it first before signing."

Summary After 3 weeks, 5 appointments, and probably RM5-7K later, I feel like we barely gained anything or any new insights. It was a lot of wasted consultations and tests. We didn't even get the crucial treatment needed for my dad (speech therapy for aphasia ASAP), just the basic preventative medicine.

Rating: 1/5. Avoid.