Medstar Medical Clinic & Surgery is currently under investigation by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The clinic has been issuing medical certificates (MCs) without any audio or video consultation via the clinic's telemedicine service, PocketCare.

MCs issued without appropriate clinical assessment

In a press release, MOH said that it received information about the clinic in February.

In particular, it received information that PocketCare had been advertising on Instagram and its website that its patients would be able to obtain an MC in five minutes for S$5.99 nett without any video consultation.

MOH found that the clinic provided consultation through a self-service text-based questionnaire, and issued MCs without any audio and video interaction with patients.

The ministry said:

"As there is no real-time two-way engagement with an attending doctor during the service, patients could potentially provide false or inaccurate responses without any verification made on those responses by a doctor, and obtain a medical certificate for a period of one to two days without appropriate clinical assessment."

Furthermore, patients who require a proper consultation may also not receive the appropriate clinical assessment to manage their medical conditions.

Investigating possible breaches of ethical code

According to the ministry's assessment, the consultation provided through Pocketcare, might have contravened Regulation 30 of the Healthcare Services (Outpatient Medical Service) Regulations 2023.

It states that a licensee may only provide outpatient medical services remotely to first-time patients through real-time two-way interactive audiovisual communications.

MOH has referred the Serangoon Road clinic's registered medical practitioner, Viknesh Shanmugam, to the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) for investigations into possible breaches of the SMC Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines (ECEG).

Claimed that patients can get refund if no MC is issued

The PocketCare website was also found to have featured claims that patients could “Get Your MC or Get a Refund”.

MOH is investigating to determine if the statement infringes any regulations.

A notice has been issued to the clinic, stating the Director-General of Health’s intention to take regulatory action in respect of its consultation, said MOH.

This could mean a three-month suspension of its remote mode of service delivery and the need to rectify its consultation services to be compliant before it can be resumed.

Currently, the PocketCare website is under maintenance.

Top images via Medstar Medical Clinic & Surgery.