The Jenny Tan Story

Fri 14 Nov 2008 Jenny had just returned from a trip to Genting Highlands and was experiencing excruciating abdominal pain. We rushed her to the hospital ER and preliminary investigation indicated that she needed surgery. Before she checked into her ward she asked for her mobile to be brought in the next day so she could call her friends after the operation.  Sat 15 Nov 2008 It was a bright sunny day when my daughter and I got to her ward. She was due for surgery later that day. She asked for her mobile, but the staff advised against leaving any valuables in the ward, so the phone got back into my pocket.  When being wheeled away she was cheerful and bubbly, and we said we'll be back in the evening at visitors' hours. That was the last time we saw her in a fully conscious state. At about 6 pm we reached her ward and found her in quiet repose. She appeared to be sound asleep. We called out to her several times, but she seemed to be in deep slumber. A male

In this phase of my quest for answers I narrowed my search to getting to the root of what transpired during the postoperative period when the patient was in nursing care right up to the discovery of her comatose state. 14 Mar 2009 I therefore wrote to the hospital requesting the patient’s medical records for the period in question. In particular, I asked for: Hourly readings taken in monitoring the patient Medications prescribed and administered Entries by duty officers PtRec 01 C1-13   Request Patient's Records Early April 2009 The reply came comprising the following documents. Click to enlarge. PtRec 02 C3-13   Cover Letter PtRec 03 C4-13   Consultant's Cover Note PtRec 04 C10A-13   Op Day Progress Notes 1/2 PtRec 05 C10B-13   Op Day Progress Notes 2/2 PtRec 06 C9A-13   Post Op Progress Notes1/2 PtRec 07 C9B-13   Post Op Progress Notes2/2 PtRec 08 C11-13   Post Op Progress Notes 1/1 PtRec 09 C7-13  

While trying to come to terms with the sudden death of Jenny, I took time to search and read on the internet hundreds of articles on hospital malpractices, injuries and deaths, especially post surgical complications. Most of these were scholarly papers couched in medical jargon, and took me many long hours to decipher. Eventually I got a fair grasp of post operational protocols and how hospitals deal with enquiries from the public. Obviously the hospital isn’t going to reveal anything suggesting breaches of patient safety procedures, so I proceeded without any illusions of finding any. The first step was to get the so-called “Specialist Medical Report.” This is usually sought by victims of road and industrial accidents when submitting a claim for insurance payouts. It is a routine procedure and hospitals don’t bat an eyelid when dishing it out. This would probably be just a perfunctory report of what happened.  7 Feb 2009 I applied for the Specialist Medical Report.