SingHealth apologises after polyclinic doctor wrongly ticks 'HIV positive' box in woman's medical report

A couple experienced anxiety and confusion when the wife received a medical report that mistakenly indicated that she was HIV-positive.

Stomp contributor Keith said that his wife had gone to Outram Polyclinic on June 6 to certify her Checkpoints Authority (ICA) medical examination report to apply for permanent residency in Singapore.

He also shared with Stomp another medical report his wife had received on the same day that showed that she was HIV-negative.

The couple was confused by the different results.

Keith then contacted SingHealth to clarify what had happened, saying "this is not a small issue." 

He told Stomp that he even considered divorcing his wife if she was indeed HIV-positive.

"She is pregnant with our second child there are a lot of risks involved," he added.

"If we were to be of weak heart and mind, divorce could have taken place or even suicide could have happened with the unborn baby inside," he said.

"If I were to be a father or a mother who knows the baby will be born HIV-positive, the second thing that could have happened was an abortion."

In response to Stomp's media queries, Dr Sinead Wang, clinic director of SingHealth Polyclinics Outram said:

"We apologise unreservedly for the distress and anxiety caused to our patient and her family for the transcribing error in the ICA medical examination report."

"The patient visited Outram Polyclinic in June 2018. During the visit, the patient requested for the doctor to certify her ICA medical examination report."

"During the process, the doctor mistakenly ticked the HIV 'positive' box in the report, even though the HIV screening result was negative."

"Following the incident, we have contacted the patient and her family to extend our apologies and provided them with a fresh ICA medical examination report.

"We have counselled the attending doctor and taken steps to strengthen our processes to ensure that this does not happen again."