Ntuc eldercare looks down on family and asks them 'you can pay or not?'

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NTUC ELDERCARE LOOKS DOWN ON FAMILY AND ASKS THEM 'YOU CAN PAY OR NOT?'

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15 Oct 2014 - 11:32am








My uncle needs no red carpet but this has to be the rudest and most offensive welcome from a Care Centre Manager (Julie Ong).

After months of waiting, we were happy when told of an available place for our uncle who is an amputee for his day rehabilitation program at Silver Circle Centre at Dakota Crescent. Together with my brother Rahim we accompanied our uncle and we arrived shortly after 2.30pm. He is there for an assessment of his suitability for day rehabilitation program at the Centre. No one greeted us upon arrival, let alone helping us with our uncle’s wheelchair. I guess they were all busy at that time. We had to find our own way in and looked for the Manager ourselves.

My brother managed to find her and we were all seated in an open discussion area shortly. This was when the discussion took an unexpected ugly turn. Within 5 minutes of meeting Julie Ong, the Centre Manager, she went straight to brief us on deposit and full payment options and questioning us on our ability to pay the 20% balance after the 80% subsidy. When I questioned her that this was an assessment visit and why are we being demanded an assurance of full payment to the centre, after all our uncle is under 100% Social Service Assistance? Her offensive reply was that the centre has had many cases of non payment after discharge and it has been a constant problem for her to chase payment from Social Service Officers especially when they have resigned.
She went on saying that we should be grateful to her for “giving our uncle a chance”…

She went on saying that we should be grateful to her for “giving our uncle a chance” to be admitted at the centre as they are already running full house. When asked what can make my uncle unsuitable to be admitted to the centre, her rude reply was, “He can be disruptive.” All this right in the presence of our uncle!

I questioned the choice of words she used to talk to us and our uncle at it showed lack of respect and unbecoming of a Centre Manager, furthermore it will cause distress to our uncle. She insisted that she was doing her job and merely stating facts.
She shouted at one of the staff to take my uncle away…

I requested that my uncle be taken out of the discussion and she simply walked out of the discussion and shouted at one of the staff to take my uncle away. As we couldn’t take her attitude any longer, we decided to leave the place with my uncle and I told her, I don’t think that I want to leave my uncle in a place like this and that as a Centre Manager, she should have better communications skills and be more courteous and sensitive when talking to prospective patients and their families. With that she immediately went back to her room without seeing us off or getting any help for us and our uncle out of the Centre back to my taxi.

Through the glass window of her office, I could clearly see her with her sullen face, avoiding even to make any further eye contact as she stared at her computer screen.






Eventually Mr Joseph Yong, the assistant supervisor who was present throughout the whole discussion, offered an apology and admitted that it has been a rough day for all of them. While I appreciate his sincerity and honesty, I told him that if she cannot take the pressure of running a Daycare Centre then she is not fit to be the Manager.

I was and still am in total shock and it is beyond me how someone like Julie Ong can become a Centre Manager of an Elderly Daycare Centre. How does NTUC train and make their selection of key personnel to be entrusted to hold such important positions? Are they trained comprehensively to handle the high pressure levels of dealing with the elderly? Even basic communication skills that should demonstrate sensitivity, courtesy, empathy and sincerity is non existent in the Centre Manager. I am currently seeking to get this matter addressed at a higher level.

Ghazali Sadip
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152810430072871&set=a.10150252204 192871.344249.703992870


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